Tuffnells’ Plymouth parcels depot shuts suddenly and staff lose jobs

Dozens of people are expected to have lost their jobs in Plymouth and consumers may face delays for packages to arrive after delivery giant Tuffnells Parcels Express collapsed into administration. The company, which is more than 100 years old, has been operating a regional depot at Lee Mill for decades.

But today the logistics sector was rocked when the Sheffield-headquartered company appointed joint administrators at Interpath Advisory after failing to secure funding in recent weeks. The business blamed a highly competitive market, vying with the likes of DHL and FedEx, and high inflation for eating into its fixed-cost, low-margin, operating model.

It means more than 2,000 staff will be made redundant nationally including those at Lee Mill. The depot was unavailable today but PlymouthLive understands dozens of workers are based there and other firms have already been receiving calls from staff looking for jobs.

The company employs 2,200 people across 33 UK depots, including Plymouth, Exeter and Bristol. The majority will be made redundant, with ust 128 staff retained, and about 500 contractors are also set to be affected.

The transport hubs and depots, including the one at Lee Mill, deliver large and bulky goods to more than 4,000 businesses across the UK, including retailers Wickes and Evans Cycles. These will be closed until further notice with consumers likely to face delays for deliveries of goods such as furniture or bikes as a result. Interpath said it will be contacting business customers in the coming days to arrange for them to collect parcels from the shutdown sites.

Howard Smith, joint administrator from Interpath, said: “Customers are advised that all transport hubs and depots have been closed until further notice. Our team will be making contact with customers over the coming days to arrange parcel collection.”

Tuffnells has been under pressure since it was taken into independent ownership in 2020, hit by Covid-19 pressures, rising costs and increased competition, administrators at Interpath said. The “highly competitive nature” of the UK parcel delivery market intensified pressure on the company’s cashflow.

It had been seeking additional financial support in recent weeks before deciding to appoint administrators. Richard Harrison, managing director at Interpath and joint administrator with Mr Smith, said: “Tuffnells is one of the UK’s most recognisable logistics companies, providing delivery services to over 4,000 businesses across the UK under its The Big Green Parcel Machine brand.

“Unfortunately, the highly competitive nature of the UK parcel delivery market, coupled with significant inflation across the company’s fixed cost base in recent times, has resulted in the company experiencing intense pressure on cashflow. Today’s news will be particularly devastating for Tuffnells’ 2,200 dedicated employees.

“Regrettably, with deliveries suspended and with no prospect of them resuming in the immediate term, we have had to make the majority of staff redundant. Our utmost priority will be to provide all those impacted with every support they need in making claims to the Redundancy Payments Office and minimising disruption to customers.”

Ross Mackenzie, boss of Plymouth logistics business Courierforce, said the logistics sector was stunned to hear of the collapse of a company which had been operating for 109 years. He said: “It’s a sad day. They are a long-established business with an identifiable brand. It is another big, well recognised name gone as sectors around the UK have been shaken up.”

He described Tuffnells as being a “low margin, high volume” parcel courier and particularly vulnerable to fluctuations in energy costs. He said: “It’s a difficult sector, and a difficult part of the sector to be in.”

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