Bust 40-year-old Long Eaton firm owes more than £300k to staff made redundant

A decades-old motorbike seller that had a store in Nottinghamshire before collapsing into administration owes more than £300,000 to staff it made redundant. Pidcock Motor Cycles Limited, which had sold Ducati, Triumph and BMW bikes from stores in Beeston and Long Eaton, was placed into administration on October 21.

Administrators at FRP Advisory said the 49-year-old business had failed due to inflation and "weak consumer demand", with the resulting dealership closures leading to 18 job losses. Financial documents filed with Companies House by joint administrators Nathan Jones and John Lowe have now revealed further details on how much the company owed to employees and other businesses when it entered administration.

A statement of the company's affairs showed that while it had assets that were worth a significant amount of money, its creditors would likely be left substantially out of pocket. The dealerships had around £2 million worth of new and used motorbikes, £607,684 in parts and accessories, £171,831 in furniture and other assets such as £130,288 worth of property.

However, most of these objects would likely be sold for a fraction of their book value and a large number of the firm's bikes would be sent to BMW's financial services department or other vehicle lenders, so the administrators estimated only around £430,353 would be available to creditors. This would be enough to pay back the company's priority creditors, which included a £112,803 claim from the tax office, according to the business's managers.

Only £51,454 could be shared among unsecured creditors once Pidcock's other debts were paid off, they estimated. This would not be enough to pay a £319,293 claim from redundant employees, £446,726 owed to unsecured creditors, an additional £23,093 HMRC claim, and other large expenses.

In total, there would be an estimated shortfall of £1,365,302 when trying to pay back those owed money, the firm's administrators concluded. Pidcock's Ducati dealership on Queens Road, Beeston, and Triumph dealership on Tamworth Road, Long Eaton, closed two months ago when it entered administration.

FRP Advisory previously said it was currently considering offers from prospective buyers for the bust company’s BMW site in Fields Farm Road, Long Eaton. Despite attempts to secure a buyer through an accelerated sales process, the company is to close permanently and its employees supported with applications to the redundancy payments service.

Nathan Jones, joint administrator of Pidcock Motor Cycles and partner at FRP, said: “Pidcock is not the first retailer to struggle in challenging market conditions over the past year and it’s unfortunate that a viable route forward hasn’t been possible.

"We’re currently reviewing the business’s assets – including extensive databases – with a view to marketing them for sale. Our focus now is on realising as much value as we can from the business to satisfy creditors and supporting employees with redundancy applications.

"Sales from all of the company’s sites were paused during the administration and a managed system put in place to allow owners to collect vehicles that have already been purchased. All customer deposits have been protected."