A car hire company that entered administration last year still has to pay millions of pounds in debts, with dozens of staff made redundant, according to reports. Prohire, a provider of contract hire, fleet management and rental services, entered administration in the summer of 2025.
However, a report from the administrators found that the company still owed millions of pounds to creditors. The experts said that “non-preferential unsecured creditors are estimated to be in the region of £28m for Prohire and £19.6m for Prohire Group”.
But, the administrators revealed that the company’s unsecured creditors were not likely to secure their losses in a major blow. The administrators said they found that “on current estimates we anticipate that there will be insufficient funds to enable a dividend to non-preferential creditors of either Prohire or Prohire Group.”
Prohire was a leading contract hire firm based across multiple locations around Stoke-on-Trent in the West Midlands. They also had employees working for them in Tunbridge Wells in Kent in the South East of the UK.
The hire company is understood to have gone into administration early in the summer of 2025 for a number of reasons. Those cited by the administrators include a contraction in margins on contract hire sales.
They explained this likely placed “pressure on trading performance and profitability” which led to “significant losses”. The administrator even explained that the company incurred losses of around £1.5m in FY25 on the disposal of vehicles alone.
Dozens of employees lost their jobs when Prohire went into administration last summer. When the business ceased trading, 54 employees were made redundant, with 29 individuals retained to assist the administrators.
However, all remaining employees were made redundant in August in a major blow to the over 80 staff members. According to the report, company shareholders rejected requests for further funding when it became clear millions were needed to ensure the survival of the business.
The administrators said: “This meant the group had insufficient funds remaining to continue trading and no reasonable prospect of additional funds being secured on necessary timescales.
“The companies’ directors therefore concluded during week commencing Monday 23 June that the companies would need to enter an insolvency process.”
