Court application lodged by Prohire to appoint administrators

Commercial vehicle hire and fleet management provider Prohire has lodged an application with the courts to appoint an administrator.

The firm, which has its headquarters in Stoke-on-Trent, filed the notice of intent last week. It legally protects the company for 10 working days from creditors while it considers its options.

It followed a registration of charge, which formally recorded a security interest by Northridge Capital against the company's assets, that was lodged at Companies House in May.  

The last available accounts show that turnover increased by 19% in 2024, from £44.4 million to £52.9m year-on-year.

The increase, it said, was mainly down to annualisation of prior year and current year contract hire new business secured.

However, operating profits (excluding adjusting items) reduced in the year by £228,000 to £3.2m as the annualisation of the revenue benefits of new business wins were eroded in the short term by an increased fleet age profile, with a number of large customers due for fleet renewals this year.

Pre-tax profits, meanwhile, fell by more than £1m, from £1.6m in 2023 to £414,000 last year, making an overall loss after tax of £132,000.

Up to a third of its contract hire fleet was due to reach the end of its fixed rental periods in March.

Inflationary pressures in the SMR (service, maintenance and repair) network and infrastructure investments made to support its customer service proposition also impacted margin flow, it said in its accounts filing at the start of the year.

At the time, it said it was focused on updating commercial pricing to current market conditions for these expiring vehicles and addressing the short term SMR network cost pressures through delivering a reduced fleet age profile as older vehicles are de-hired and refreshed with new, meaning that vehicle running costs will be reduced and operational uptime increased.

It announced it was investing £5m in 70 new vehicles to refresh its 400-strong Proflex national rental fleet in October, 2024. 

Prohire has been approached for comment.