The 16-vehicle international O-Licence held by Cryers Hill, High Wycombe-based Ashwood Travel has been cut by three vehicles for a period of two weeks by Traffic Commissioner (TC) Richard Turfitt after a falling out occurred between its two directors, brother and sister Darren Murphy and Sara Baker.
Taking over from their late father led to concerns with their ability to manage the operation and its stability, issues with maintenance and drivers’ hours, and an apparent lack of involvement by Darren Murphy as the then-Transport Manager (TM).
The TC said that director fitness was an essential element in determining the repute of a company. Instead, he was presented with the unedifying spectacle of two people who were directors engaged in a form of ‘he said, she said’.
The relationship had clearly broken down since the passing of their father to the point that a formal settlement agreement was required. That was a matter for the individuals concerned.
What they should have understood was that it did not remove them from the obligation to notify the TC of changes in the business relationship, and specifically that Mr Murphy was not meeting the TM duties of which they had been advised on acceptance of his nomination.
The TC concluded that Mr Murphy had failed to exercise effective and continuous management. Mr Murphy accepted that was the case, and that he had demonstrated a disregard for the published guidance and for the duties to which he had signed up to. Mr Murphy acted in that capacity between 27 May 2022 and 24 October 2024. His name was removed from the list of directors on 12 June 2025. The current TM was Fasal Raja, who was appointed on 16 January 2025.
It was said that the dispute between the directors had been resolved with the departure of Mr Murphy as a director and a person of significant control. The TC was assured that Mrs Baker would maintain sufficient oversight of the transport operation. It was further suggested that Mr Raja’s appointment had rectified the issues caused by Mr Murphy’s tenure as TM.
Making the suspension order, the TC said that the company was largely compliant by the date of the Public Inquiry (PI). He balanced the fact that this was the first PI and that there had been many positive gains following the appointment of Mr Raja against the repeated breach of conditions which, in effect, misled him to a point where the trust he had in this operator was seriously undermined.
Repute was severely tarnished by those circumstances. The TC therefore determined that deterrent action was required to send a message to this operator and others who might be tempted to view the TM role and the need for basic governance processes as mere window dressing.
Mr Turfitt disqualified Mr Murphy from acting as a TM unless and until he could satisfy a TC that he could exercise the duties the role required.
