Daily rental broker 1car1 has been placed in the hands of receivers Pricewaterhouse Coopers.
Operating from its base in Kirkstall, Leeds, 1car1 is the largest independently owned car and van rental company in the UK. It operates from 87 sites throughout the UK.
According to PWC, administrators are working to salvaging value from the business, however the main trading business and 1car1’s 15,000 vehicle fleet is likely to be wound down over the next five weeks. The administrators also expect around 200 redundancies immediately within the company in order to reduce costs.
Steve Ellis, joint administrator and partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Leeds, said: “1car1 has sadly become reliant on levels of funding which are unsustainable in the current credit climate. 1car1 is a well known brand with an exclusive network and we remain hopeful that it will prove attractive to a purchaser. Potential buyers for a radically restructured business will need to act quickly as we are returning the fleet to funders at their request. Clearly, it is disappointing to have to make a significant number of redundancies. My team and I will be doing all we can to help these employees at this difficult time.”
The downturn in business comes after five years of rapid growth for the firm which was rated ninth in BusinessCar’s annual survey of daily rental businesses.
According to the company’s website the business is still trading normally: “1car1 prides itself on being able to offer low-cost vehicle rental across the world.
“1car1 Global offers fantastic rates on a wide range of vehicles from a small economy vehicles to luxury cars, MPV and Vans.”