Administrators appointed for vehicle hire firm

Ernst & Young (EY) has officially been appointed administrator for TOM Vehicle Rental after the Scottish firm was forced into liquidation.

Hundreds of workers have lost their jobs after the debt-plagued firm, which provided long-tern vehicle rental services, failed to find a viable buyer during a drawn out sales process.

However, the administrators have stated they are confident they will succeed in finding a buyer and selling the business and the assets of Alistair Fleming, a third subsidiary.

In total, 342 employees have been made redundant across the firms 11 sites in England and Scotland since it ceased trading. However, EY has confirmed that 86 staff members will continue to work at the company's head office to assist with the wind down of the business.

According to Colin Dempster, joint administrator from EY, the group has faced a number of difficulties related to both operations and liquidity in the last few years due to changes in their customers' preferences and an increase in competition in the long-term vehicle rental market.

In fact, the firm's owners Equistone have revealed that they were required to provide additional funding for the business throughout the duration of its ownership as a result of cash-flow issues. However, an Equistone spokesperson asserted that Tom's financial position still failed to sufficiently improve, even with this added financial support.

"Despite the best efforts to save the Group, it could not continue to operate as a going concern and Administrators were appointed," Mr Dempster said. "Our specialist team will work with [employees] affected to help them claim outstanding wages and other payments due from the Redundancy Payments Office."

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