The management of London-based crate rental specialist Pluscrates Ltd has announced that the company ceased trading on 17 February, 2023.

The assets have been sold to Dutch-owned company Rotom Cargopak Ltd.

Pluscrates was formed in 2008, originally trading from a single operating centre in Wembley before purchasing Manchester-based Northern crates in 2009 and opening operating centres in the Midlands and Scotland in the same year. A fifth centre was opened in Bristol during 2010.

Following exponential growth in its first four years of trading, Pluscrates maintained its revenue by increasing market share but in recent years was damaged by a fall in the market for commercial relocation. This was mainly due to changing office environments, digitisation, moves towards the paperless office, the growth in personal digital devices and the affects of the pandemic. During an 18-month pre-COVID period Pluscrates was also damaged by the insolvency of some of its larger clients.

In July 2022 and on the advice of insolvency practitioners, PKF GM, a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) was proposed and approved. Post July 2022, Pluscrates continued to trade with an agreed serviceable level of debt.

The CVA failed in December 2022 due to an accumulation of factors, including

the slow return of workers to the office, hybrid working practices and the continuing absence of large-scale business relocations, resulting in a steep decline in revenue from the company’s core market.

Photo: Pluscrates’ former head office in Wembley, London.