Wrong Entity Operator Granted New Licence at Traffic Commissioner’s Public Inquiry.

This operator, represented at Public Inquiry by Barrister Harry Bowyer, changed their entity from a partnership to a limited company in 2013 on the advice of their accountant. They failed to realise the effect on their operator’s licence of the change of entity which meant that they had been operating without a licence or lending the partnership licence to the Limited company for over 12 years. They put in an application for a new licence in the name of the Limited Company and instructed a Transport Consultant to update their systems that had slipped badly over the years. The business stopped using HGVs when they realised that they did not have a licence to operate.

The Traffic Commissioner was not impressed with the regulatory failings that had accrued and was of the opinion that the operator should have known of the change of entity issues. They were satisfied, however, that this was not a deliberate fraud and, after some consideration, felt that they could grant the new licence as applied for.