All jobs lost as liquidators appointed to Dundee travel firm
The Dundee-based private hire coach company provided short and long-distance travel across the country, along with several long-standing contracts with local councils, including transportation agreements to take pupils to and from schools in Dundee and Angus.
The collapse of Fishers Tours has left Dundee City Council and Angus Council having to make alternative arrangements for school transport for hundreds of pupils.
READ MORE: Sam Heughan to play Macbeth in Royal Shakespeare Company debut
The firm employed 27 people and operated from Mid Craigie Industrial Estate with a fleet of 18 coaches.
Last week Fishers Tours listed 10 of its coaches on the auction website Sweeney Kincaid.
Administrators said the business faced financial challenges in recent months amid rising costs, but operated with fixed-price customer contracts.
Fishers Tours ceased trading on Friday, May 23, and all staff were made redundant upon the appointment of the liquidators.
All services, including pre-booked hires, group travel and music event travel, have been cancelled.
Customers with bookings have been advised to seek alternative travel arrangements, while those who have paid deposits have also been advised to speak to their bank or credit card provider.
Alistair McAlinden said: 'Fishers Tours has been a core part of the local transport network in the Dundee City and Angus region for more than two decades and we recognise the devastating impact the closure of the business will have on staff, customers and wider community.
'Regrettably, all bookings and services have been cancelled and customers are advised to seek alternative arrangements and engage with their bank or credit card provider if a deposit has been paid.
'As provisional liquidators, our immediate focus is to explore the circumstances of the liquidation and support affected employees to ensure they have access to the necessary guidance in making claims to the Redundancy Payments Office.'
Last month, one employee told The Courier the decision was unfair after it was revealed the business had closed suddenly, they said: 'This has come completely out of the blue.
'Everyone was stood on the yard completely shocked. We feel totally helpless.
'That's more than 20 drivers and mechanics who won't have jobs next week. How is that fair?"
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Times
5 hours ago
- Times
Taxpayer appears to fund footballers' salaries for ‘R&D'
Taxpayers appear to have funded player salaries at a top-flight football club on the grounds they were working on cutting-edge research. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) demanded repayment from the Scottish Premier League team Dundee United last year after it claimed £1.27 million under the research and development tax credit scheme. The scheme, which is meant to support innovations for the public good in science and technology, has been subject to a high degree of fraud and error thanks to lax checks by the tax authority. Under HMRC's rules a company can apply for the public money only if it has attempted a genuine advance in science or technology to benefit the overall field, not just its own business. A report was prepared by Dundee United's tax consultant ZLX before the club's claim, which stated that its players spent 24 per cent of their time directly conducting research and development activities, across nutrition and data collection projects. This meant, the report claimed, this portion of their salaries could be partially recouped from the taxpayer as a research and development (R&D) tax credit under the scheme. The report also stated that 80 per cent of the club chef's time was spent on nutrition science research, which could also be used to make a tax credit claim. Eligible research under the scheme must deal with an issue of genuine scientific uncertainty, which an expert in the field would not easily be able to resolve. • HMRC overhaul: £8bn tax credit scheme faces reform For one of Dundee's projects, the document claimed that the eligible uncertainty was that 'league involvement, challenge in European competition, playing style and management are all likely to change'. Simon Brundish, a conditioning coach at Strength:Lab who has worked with Premier League football clubs as well as with the English and Belgian national teams, reviewed the details of the research projects set out in the document. 'There is nothing groundbreaking going on here,' he said. 'A radar profile for each player and each position using arbitrary thresholds created by coaches' 'expertise' is simply standard practice in professional team sport.' He said that if the club had been paying an external consultant large sums for these kinds of services on the grounds that it was revolutionary research, it was effectively 'buying snake oil'. The tax expert Dan Neidle said: 'Football players are not scientific researchers.' He added that if Dundee United had claimed a quarter of the players' salaries as R&D expenditure, it was a 'scandal'. 'It is no surprise HMRC are investigating,' he said. Stephen McCallion, the owner of ZLX, based in Glasgow, said that the claim briefing had not been submitted to HMRC and that ZLX had never been interviewed by HMRC in relation to the Dundee claim. When asked if he disputed that the Dundee claim included a claim for player salaries, he declined to comment, citing client confidentiality. • Specialist agents under scrutiny in crackdown on tax credit fraud There has been controversy around whether it is within the spirit of the scheme for football clubs to make large claims. In February The Times revealed that Premiership teams including Chelsea, Fulham and Nottingham Forest had made claims. After the story, disclosures under freedom of information by HMRC revealed that at least 33 professional football clubs were under investigation into whether £17 million had been wrongly claimed. Chelsea was paid more than £3 million in R&D tax relief and payments by HMRC between 2020 and last year, according to its accounts. Nottingham Forest claimed a tax credit of £607,000 in the 2021-22 financial year, while Fulham claimed £758,000 in credits between 2019 and 2024. After the reporting, it emerged that Brentford had also made a claim, worth more than £3 million. Chelsea, Nottingham Forest, Fulham and Brentford were asked if player salaries had been included in any way in their claims under the scheme. Brentford declined to comment. The other clubs were approached for comment. HMRC has not disclosed the identity of which 33 clubs were under investigation. Dundee separately declared HMRC's repayment demand in its most recent accounts. Concerns have also been raised about the role of tax advisers encouraging companies to make claims that skirt the border of eligibility, with at least one adviser promoting the scheme as 'free money from HMRC'. ZLX described itself on its website as having the 'know-how' to navigate R&D tax credits. It previously stated on its website that it could assist clubs in making claims under the scheme for research into 'stadiums-spectator interaction', 'media and multimedia' and 'Covid compliance measures'. The page including this information has been taken down from its website. The company was criticised in a recent Scottish court case for what the sheriff found was a proposal to make an R&D claim on behalf of a fruit and vegetable company for installing a fridge. HMRC has faced repeated criticisms for its handling of the R&D scheme as its cost ballooned from £1.1 billion in 2010 to £7.5 billion in 2023. Officials have been accused of failing properly to check claims being made, leading to a high rate of fraud and error, with resulting losses totalling £4.1 billion since 2020. Freedom of information litigation last year forced HMRC to reveal it had failed to take sustained action to crack down on misuse of the scheme for five years, despite being warned by officials as early as 2017 that the scheme was being extensively defrauded. McCallion has previously said that the sheriff repeated comments made by the defendant — which had not been taken seriously by the ZLX legal team — that it was 'not impossible for a football club to claim R&D tax credits'. He also said that 'those who have started this witch hunt on football clubs have little or no technical experience but instead are using this platform to further their own endeavours'. Dundee United was approached for comment. The club's accounts state that it is appealing against HMRC's repayment demand.
The Herald Scotland
14 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Bus firm owned by former Rangers directors doubles profits
We revealed this week that McGill's, the 'largest independent bus firm in the UK', posted that the earnings rise was partly down to acquisitions. James and Sandy Easdale. (Image: Jeff Holmes/JSHPIX) The Greenock-based firm owned by billionaire brothers Sandy and James Easdale put forward results covering a 'wide and diverse portfolio'. The firm said: 'McGill's Bus Group is Britain's largest independently owned bus company and a pioneer in fleet decarbonisation, with over 110 zero emission electric buses.' Read the full exclusive story here ANALYSIS 📈 Why the case for a 'Scottish visa' just got stronger Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is sticking to his red lines on Brexit. (Image: PA) At times like these the dogmatic nature of politics must really frustrate people in business. While Sir Keir Starmer sticks to his Government's red lines on Europe – meaning there will be no return to the single market, no re-joining the customs union and no freedom of movement under his watch – the UK's economic prospects will continue to be constrained. This includes in Scotland, which of course voted resoundingly to remain in the European Union in the referendum of 2016, and has been living with the consequences since. But how long can the current state of affairs continue? Starmer has so far resisted calls from the Scottish Government to introduce a "Scottish visa" to help the country deal with the labour shortages it faces, but the issue is simply not going away. Read Scott Wright's analysis here SERIES: THE BARRAS REBORN 🍽️ How The Barras stealthily became Glasgow's most exciting foodie destination The Barras has slowly but surely evolved into one of the city's most exciting foodie destinations. (Image: Newsquest) Whelks, mussels and white sugar-coated doughnuts might well be what first come to mind when you picture food from The Barras Market in Glasgow. None of the above is wrong, with the Loch Fyne Shellfish Bar on London Road celebrating 65 years in business and Danny's Donuts still firing up their fryers every weekend. But elsewhere, thanks to a team who have invested time and effort into curating a line-up of street food vendors unlike any other, The Barras has slowly but surely evolved into one of the city's most exciting foodie destinations. As part of our Barras Reborn series, The Herald sat down with market manager Chris Butler to discuss the influx of independent culinary talent now based in the East End and how this contributes to the shifting identity of a 104-year-old cultural landmark. Read Sarah Campbell's article here AROUND THE GREENS ⛳ Coming soon to a club near you: Golf vending machines A mock-up of what the proposed vending machines might look like (Image: Newsquest) This article appears as part of Kristy Dorsey's Around the Greens series Officials at discount retailer Affordable Golf are sizing up plans to roll out vending machines at clubs across Scotland selling items such as balls and gloves to players who might otherwise be caught short.
Powys County Times
15 hours ago
- Powys County Times
Powys student's Aries sculpture made from farm machinery
A SCULPTURE of a ram's head – made from steel rods, recycled from old farm machinery by a young Powys arts student – has been unveiled to mark the 180th anniversary of the Royal Agricultural University (RAU). Seventeen-year-old Harlan Beales, who is currently studying for an extended diploma in art, design and creative practice at Hereford College of Arts, designed the sculpture, which has been named 'Aries', in tandem with former RAU student Will Carr, before fabricating it by himself. Aries was recently unveiled by RAU vice chancellor, professor Peter McCaffery, at a special lunch held at the Cirencester-based University which was founded in 1845 as the first agricultural college in the English-speaking world. Harlan, from Hay-on-Wye, said: 'It has been amazing for me to have been involved with this. 'I've made smaller pieces before but this is the first large scale sculpture I've made. 'I'm excited that it will be at the RAU forever. My aunt lives in Cirencester so I can visit the sculpture whenever I come to see her.' He added: 'Will and I worked together on the design; he was able to make 3D projections and I made two paper models to get the scale right. 'I used Will's workshop, getting guidance from Will and his fabricator at key points during the build. 'It is made from 6mm steel rods which Will had on his farm. Our initial plan was to make it using old bits of farm machinery and plough parts, but it looked so beautiful when we'd just welded the rods that we decided to leave it as it was.' Will, who previously studied civil and environmental engineering at Nottingham University, joined the RAU in 2015 to study agriculture, before taking on his family's 200-hectare mixed, arable and beef farm in the village of Weobley, near Hereford. Alongside running the farm, Will has made a successful sculpture business, employing two people, and has sold sculptures across the world, including to the United States and Australia, and public sculptures across the UK. In 2015 he made a barley ears sculpture for the RAU's 170th anniversary which now stands overlooking the university's Bathurst Lawn. He said: 'I felt very honoured to be asked to make another piece for the RAU and it was great to be able to work alongside Harlan; we worked really well as a team. 'The joined metal bars of Aries symbolise the interconnected mesh of human brains coming together, very (much) like at this university, where information is shared making a joint neural network.' RAU vice-chancellor Mr McCaffery said: 'As we celebrate our 180th anniversary we ae immensely proud of the contribution our 17,000+ alumni have made as leaders, entrepreneurs and innovators to agriculture and the land-based sector. 'The Aries sculpture is a fitting tribute to the creativity, ingenuity and commitment to sustainability that characterises our students today.' Originally established in 1845 as the Royal Agricultural College, the first agricultural college in the English-speaking world and with just 25 students, the RAU gained university status in 2013. The university now has around 1,100 students at its Cirencester campus as well as more than 3,000 studying worldwide with its many international partners.
