Can’t help but agree with Spud 50. We have been dropped in the mire. Only one lad will walk away with a shiny face, from the ski slopes
As to doing it right. How about asking the drivers, ( I kept the txt message ), to make sure their motors were filled up BEFORE 4pm. About the time the firm would shut down! Not suggesting any dishonest practice. Or am I? As to your wages you will stand more chance from the Insolvency Service. Johnny boy aint going to dip in his pocket.
The ex Bulmers units going into Levers are now under Wardies orders. 
spud50:
Well here we go again I WAS A BULMERS DRIVER based at the Ipswich depot. On friday the 4th Feruary 2011 our office recieved a call at 13:00 hrs to say the company had closed, within two hours two van loads of drivers from the north east had removed all our trucks (16 units) and all the skeletal trailers belonging to greys rentals.
All our timesheets and weekly pods/cmrs were just dumped on the desk and the office vacated.
This was definately preplanned. Apparently according to our office this closure is to do with the inland revenue nothing else. A liquidator is being appointed today.
I enjoyed working for Bulmers but I am extremely angry at the way this company has treated its employees.
I worked 72 hrs plus 5 nights out THEY ARE NOT GOING TO PAY OUR WAGES, I would happily walk away if I was paid, there was no notice either. The drivers in Ipswich worked all week, they must have known they could not pay us,but I am pretty sure he will be paid from the work we did that week. I have managed to contact the head office in Eston road, but we are being fobbed off,apparently we have to claim through a goverment backed fund,this will be a max of £400 only. No P45,No help, thankyou Mr Bulmer.I know he is still trading again under a different name but I cant say here and its not just Wards, the truck I used to drive is working in Bury St Edmunds on a contract the same man had. Something here smells very fishy and at the moment I am personally looking into the lagality of what he has done.As for those who say give him abreak I DONT THINK SO,purely because he has walked away again and not paid drivers wages causing us all huge financial problems,some of my work colleagues cant even pay there mortgage this month. IF YOUR READING THIS JONATHAN think pay your drivers wages owes and then walk away head held high.
I will say I am the lucky one here I have got another job start 1st next month with a very high profile company with good wages, I have been a driver for 29 years with a clean licence this helped,but I still have to go without an income for 4 weeks. Some of my friends have not been so lucky,but I keep asking around for them? Good Luck eh!
I hope this helps with the speculators, this is how it happen.
Thankyou
Michael
If this is true i retract my previous comment. Why wont you name the new company ? According to chassis cab employee the wagons were collected by baliffs anohter poster had said
its been very strange going in there yard this week to get emptys off and seeing 2 “heavys” sat in the office protecting the young lad who books you in
Yes it is true the drivers are not going to get paid : it is believed that cleveland container services is in jonathan bulmer and his wifes name…The trucks at Ipswich were picked up by Greys Rental employees,taken back to there yard and all clean! wagons went straight back out to work.
got through to admin in tees today,administrator appointed sometime friday 11th feb,the only way we have any chance of wages is through the redundancy fund, not bulmer.
As it stands at the moment bulmers transport ltd is still an active company according to companies house, I have checked.
As for the lads who worked on the gatehouse I cannot help but wonder why they would need heavys with them,they were great guys and always helpful to me when at this depot.
most of bulmers office staff are still working with him where we are not sure,but us guys will catch up with him sooner rather than later. No one works for nothing anymore (except for jonathan).
Mick
Carryfast:
The question is how is it that the tax departments so often think that they’re owed enough to drive a firm into liquidation when to be insolvent it’s obvious that a firm has more cost liabilities than incomes but costs are’nt taxable and there’s no way that the tax office can be owed all of the incomes,assuming that a firm was generating sufficient incomes to cover it’s gross wage costs
As usual you`ve missed the point.Whether they are making profits or not they are deducting p.a.y.e. and n.i. contributions from the employees which along with their own n.i. contributions are due to be paid monthly to HMRC.As they had not been paying that either HRMC goes to court for a winding up order.
Nothing to do with whether they were profitable or not.
Gridley51:
Carryfast:
The question is how is it that the tax departments so often think that they’re owed enough to drive a firm into liquidation when to be insolvent it’s obvious that a firm has more cost liabilities than incomes but costs are’nt taxable and there’s no way that the tax office can be owed all of the incomes,assuming that a firm was generating sufficient incomes to cover it’s gross wage costsAs usual you`ve missed the point.Whether they are making profits or not they are deducting p.a.y.e. and n.i. contributions from the employees which along with their own n.i. contributions are due to be paid monthly to HMRC.As they had not been paying that either HRMC goes to court for a winding up order.
Nothing to do with whether they were profitable or not.
If that’s the case then the PAYE and NI have’nt thought through all the implications of that idea. 
There must be a bit left in the coffers, after all the lessons learned last time gave them a new idea.
Business success
Of course, there will be many asking why, if the last business failed, what’s to stop this one going the same way? “We have now got a much smaller resource base that we are able to keep 100% productive,” says Andy Spence-Wolrich, who points to a SAFED driver training programme that he says will cut fuel consumption by an average of 5% this year, adding £500,000 to the bottom line.
A very old friend of mine always grunts when you mention business consultants, “harumph, failed managers!”
Wheel Nut:
There must be a bit left in the coffers, after all the lessons learned last time gave them a new idea.Business success
Of course, there will be many asking why, if the last business failed, what’s to stop this one going the same way? “We have now got a much smaller resource base that we are able to keep 100% productive,” says Andy Spence-Wolrich, who points to a SAFED driver training programme that he says will cut fuel consumption by an average of 5% this year, adding £500,000 to the bottom line.
A very wise old friend of mine always grunts when you mention business consultants, “harumph, failed managers!”
Fixed it for ya.
spud50:
As for the lads who worked on the gatehouse I cannot help but wonder why they would need heavys with them,they were great guys and always helpful to me when at this depot.
because they were the first port of call when all the irate drivers and subbys were trying to get through the gate, he said the abuse he was getting from people who he had previously worked with was shocking, it must have calmed down a bit as they were gone today
OK lads, it’s official. Bulmers has slithered into insolvency. The company in charge is one Harrisons Business and Insolvency. Based in Manchester.Now all you need is an original form from the insolvency service and you can start your claim.
I just might go out and drink to his demise, again, and again.
Thanks for the info Cactus, i’m sure there are alot of people, like myself, waiting for that news who can now progress with chasing the money they are owed and paying the bills.
filled in posting the form tommorow think i will have a drink or two as well 
heres to one door getting slammed in my face and a new door opening good luck to all the drivers looking for new opportunitys
missed a bloody good opportunity the other day should have got a butty van in cairo main square
Wheel Nut:
There must be a bit left in the coffers, after all the lessons learned last time gave them a new idea.Business success
Of course, there will be many asking why, if the last business failed, what’s to stop this one going the same way? “We have now got a much smaller resource base that we are able to keep 100% productive,and we’ll be proper busy fools” says Andy Spence-Wolrich, who points to a SAFED driver training programme that he says will cut fuel consumption by an average of 5% this year, adding £500,000 to the bottom line.
Amended.
chaversdad:
its been very strange going in there yard this week to get emptys off and seeing 2 “heavys” sat in the office protecting the young lad who books you in
See now, if you stop and think about this for a minute, maybe their problems actually started as soon as you got to that gatehouse…
Bearing in mind that the company I work for is actually the shipping line, rather than a haulier taking a second slice of the pie, let’s make a quick comparison, shall we,since our local facilities (so leaving aside ships and dock space) are similar?
Bulmers had a fully manned gatehouse that incoming vehicles had to go through to book in. We have a night/weekend guard, and incoming vehicles simply drive, park, and walk into the workshop to arrange a lift.
Bulmers had a massive office with umpteen planners to run a maximum of 150 vehicles. We have 4 office staff in our Transport Office, and they run a similar number of vehicles including subbies. Ok, so admittedly you’d need another 7 planners to replace our TM alone, but that’d still be a whole lot less. Our office is one area within the wider shipping line’s premises, all of which are leased away from the yard for efficiency’s sake.
Bulmers’ second depot also had a yard, office staff, blah. Our second depot is run out of the dock at Sheerness, the transport is administered from Teesport, and the vehicles are either those rotated down there from the main fleet a week at a time, or contracted hauliers from the local area.
Bulmers entire yard was bigger than our 2 yards (we have a satellite area purely for weekend parking when the whole fleet is in), yet they did nothing within it we don’t do in ours.
Bulmers just went bang. Again. We’ve done nothing but grow. Wonder why, eh?
totally agree lucy, conships certainly would seem to be an example of how to do it right
Bulmers Transport (nee, Logistics)
Having been an employee of Bulmers starting late 07 i went through the prepack administration 21/01/2009. At the time Bulmers was over staffed at the Teeside head office spending cash like it was going out of fashion. I joined Bulmers at its Ipswich branch which was part of the expansion plan with designs to add 100 trucks into Felixstowe. The idea was there exciting at the time but as with everything at Bulmers all talk. Ipswich was lucky to escape the original cull seeing the Hull and Immingham depots close. Ipswich’s fortunes were purely down to one man Mark Bennett who transformed the turnover from an ailing depot that was hemorrhaging cash into a financial stable operation which could of ran independent of Teeside but continued to help prop up an unstable mismanaged head office. Having been through Bulmers first administration i seen the signs late 2010 and got out which appears to have been just in time.
The drivers and office staff at the Ipswich depot were 1st class hard working Conscientiousness employees who had no notice of intended closure and have been left without payment’s of week in hand, overtime or expense’s and with no time to make seek new employment. Is this the reward for a depot which Jonathon used refer to as his golden egg. Jonathon Bulmer made no arrangements to place the Ipswich drivers or office staff this was down to again Mark Bennett (also seeking new employment) who franticly arranged as many interviews with his contacts as he could to place as many of his staff as he could in a limited time. Jonathon i believe had placed hand picked staff to start at Ward bros to help with cherry picked contracts which they have taken over.
I would like to thank Mark Bennett the Bulmers Ipswich depot manager for my time working along side him, and to all the boys good luck for the future at least you can sleep at night. Jonathon just remember what goes around comes around.
T.S
sneddon:
Bulmers Transport (nee, Logistics)Having been an employee of Bulmers starting late 07 i went through the prepack administration 21/01/2009. At the time Bulmers was over staffed at the Teeside head office spending cash like it was going out of fashion. I joined Bulmers at its Ipswich branch which was part of the expansion plan with designs to add 100 trucks into Felixstowe. The idea was there exciting at the time but as with everything at Bulmers all talk. Ipswich was lucky to escape the original cull seeing the Hull and Immingham depots close. Ipswich’s fortunes were purely down to one man Mark Bennett who transformed the turnover from an ailing depot that was hemorrhaging cash into a financial stable operation which could of ran independent of Teeside but continued to help prop up an unstable mismanaged head office. Having been through Bulmers first administration i seen the signs late 2010 and got out which appears to have been just in time.
The drivers and office staff at the Ipswich depot were 1st class hard working Conscientiousness employees who had no notice of intended closure and have been left without payment’s of week in hand, overtime or expense’s and with no time to make seek new employment. Is this the reward for a depot which Jonathon used refer to as his golden egg. Jonathon Bulmer made no arrangements to place the Ipswich drivers or office staff this was down to again Mark Bennett (also seeking new employment) who franticly arranged as many interviews with his contacts as he could to place as many of his staff as he could in a limited time. Jonathon i believe had placed hand picked staff to start at Ward bros to help with cherry picked contracts which they have taken over.I would like to thank Mark Bennett the Bulmers Ipswich depot manager for my time working along side him, and to all the boys good luck for the future at least you can sleep at night. Jonathon just remember what goes around comes around.
T.S
Well said Tom could,nt have put it better myself 
Mark(not Bennet )
used to work for bulmers allot of the problems arose from the clowns in the traffic office at teesport total clowns posted afew storys on another post wat went on told jb that his planners were useless funny thing he agreed
Lucy:
chaversdad:
its been very strange going in there yard this week to get emptys off and seeing 2 “heavys” sat in the office protecting the young lad who books you inSee now, if you stop and think about this for a minute, maybe their problems actually started as soon as you got to that gatehouse…
Bearing in mind that the company I work for is actually the shipping line, rather than a haulier taking a second slice of the pie, let’s make a quick comparison, shall we,since our local facilities (so leaving aside ships and dock space) are similar?
Bulmers had a fully manned gatehouse that incoming vehicles had to go through to book in. We have a night/weekend guard, and incoming vehicles simply drive, park, and walk into the workshop to arrange a lift.
Bulmers had a massive office with umpteen planners to run a maximum of 150 vehicles. We have 4 office staff in our Transport Office, and they run a similar number of vehicles including subbies. Ok, so admittedly you’d need another 7 planners to replace our TM alone, but that’d still be a whole lot less. Our office is one area within the wider shipping line’s premises, all of which are leased away from the yard for efficiency’s sake.
Bulmers’ second depot also had a yard, office staff, blah. Our second depot is run out of the dock at Sheerness, the transport is administered from Teesport, and the vehicles are either those rotated down there from the main fleet a week at a time, or contracted hauliers from the local area.
Bulmers entire yard was bigger than our 2 yards (we have a satellite area purely for weekend parking when the whole fleet is in), yet they did nothing within it we don’t do in ours.
Bulmers just went bang. Again. We’ve done nothing but grow. Wonder why, eh?
So take all that to it’s logical conclusion and it’s the owner driver,running just one truck,bought outright with no finance on it,and with no mortgage at home to pay for,who’s in with a better chance of keeping in work than an employed driver,who needs to earn enough to pay for a mortgage,and who’s working for a big fleet outfit .
Keeping to that logic the worst thing that you can do in that type of business environment is to grow the firm at all based on the logic that it’s easier to find enough work for one truck and it’s better to earn just enough to live on with one truck and there’s less standing costs involved to run and park up just one truck if the work dries up .
hammer:
Wheel Nut:
There must be a bit left in the coffers, after all the lessons learned last time gave them a new idea.Business success
Of course, there will be many asking why, if the last business failed, what’s to stop this one going the same way? “We have now got a much smaller resource base that we are able to keep 100% productive,and we’ll be proper busy fools” says Andy Spence-Wolrich, who points to a SAFED driver training programme that he says will cut fuel consumption by an average of 5% this year, adding £500,000 to the bottom line.
Amended.
Are the drivers going to care a shot about SAFED unless there’s a wage incentive?