Pickfords, England's largest and oldest firm of removals, has been sold to Team Relocations in a fire sale.

The sale of the loss-making business, as revealed last month in The Times, comes after the American owner said it needed a cash injection to stay afloat and risked being wound up unless a buyer could be found.

Team, run by American-born Frank Grace, is thought to have paid a nominal sum for Pickfords in return for taking on the company's mounting debts, a £10 million pension deficit and an Irish-based insurance division heavily dependent on inter-company loans.

Mr Grace said he was “obviously excited about the deal and keen to grow the business - it is business as usual.”

The sale of Pickfords includes its Allied Pickfords UK-based international movings operations, and Sirva Ireland, its wholly owned-insurance business. In total Pickfords employs about 1,300 staff while Team employs over 900 staff in 14 countries.

Other removals companies including Clockwork Group Holdings, a Scottish-based firm, are known to be interested in buying Pickfords’ core UK removals business from Team, according to sources.

Pickfords, which is registered as Sirva in the UK, has a deficit in its defined benefit pension scheme of about £10 million and has agreed with pension trustees to pay £1.6 million per year into the scheme over ten years, starting in April 2008, company filings indicated. Company records also show that HM Revenue and Customs had found that Sirva owed £27 million in tax plus £10.3 million of interest. The company is, however, appealing the assessment.

Sirva UK is owned by Sirva Holdings, whose latest published accounts record £34.8 million of pre-tax losses on turnover of £139.8 million for the 63 weeks ending March 13, 2006. That followed a £32 million pre-tax loss on £157 million of turnover for the year to December 25, 2004.

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