The former owner of City Link will be grilled by MPs on Tuesday afternoon over the collapse of the parcel delivery firm which led to the loss of more than 2,000 jobs over the Christmas period.

Jon Moulton, the founder of City Link’s parent company Better Capital, will be questioned by members of the business, innovation and skills committee over the handling of the collapse and the impact on staff.

The veteran venture capitalist is likely to come under pressure to explain the timing of the firm’s failure, after staff were told the company had been placed in administration on Christmas Day, ruining the festive period for the thousands of people affected.

On New Year’s Eve, 2,356 of City Link’s 2,727 employees were officially made redundant by administrators EY. The collapse also cost 1,000 self-employed drivers and third-party workers their livelihoods.

The RMT union accused City Link bosses of a “horrific catalogue of mismanagement”, but Moulton has previously insisted the collapse was not mishandled.

In the days following the company’s failure, he said: “I must say on behalf of Better Capital and its board of directors that we are very sorry about the failure of City Link and we’re very sorry about the horrible effects that follow for the workforce and contractors. I’m afraid that is the result of the company failing, nothing more and nothing less. The company was not viable.”

Better Capital bought the troubled courier group for just £1 in April 2013 from the previous owner, the pest control firm Rentokil, but was unable to salvage a profitable future for the firm.