Simarco boosted by UK exports drive
Efforts by British firms to grow overseas business helped UK-based independent freight and logistics company Simarco International to its best ever performance. The company revealed that its turnover rose by just under 22% to £22m during the last 12 months.
It said the surge justified its decision to open new services across Europe, partially in response to growing volumes of freight moved on behalf of clients eager to develop their export markets.
Simarco’s founder and managing director Simon Reed added that additional increases in the amount of domestic cargo it carried had also fuelled a 20% rise in pre-tax profit over the same period.
“Our growth hasn’t been due to a complicated acquisitions strategy but simply down to our carrying more client consignments to more destinations. In the last year, we have expanded the number of countries and cities which we ship to and the frequency with which we do so.
“I believe that the success we’re seeing bodes well for the UK economy because we are something of a barometer for how vibrant exporters are. If we’re busy, it means that companies are finding new customers abroad, possibly spurred on by domestic economic pressures.”
Reed said that company forecasts suggested Simarco was on course to at least equal its performance over the last year in the 12 months to come.
The firm, which has its headquarters at Witham in Essex, processes imports and exports worldwide by road, sea and air for clients in the retail, leisure, cosmetics, catering and office equipment industries among others.
In the last year, Simarco added new overland routes into Turkey and Germany, improved partnership deals in Poland and Belgium, and increased the frequency of deliveries to Spain from twice weekly to daily.
The developments boosted the number of trailer loads it moved to and from Europe during that period to more than 6,500 – an average of almost 190 shipments every day.
The volume of pallets it handled within the Palletforce network also broke the 100,000 barrier. Simarco is both a member of and shareholder in the UK nationwide distribution service.
Reed said that Simarco planned to add further cities to its roster of foreign destinations during the coming year as well as continuing to improve its range of domestic services.
“We have set ourselves some bold objectives for the next year but feel that they’re all very achievable. The work which we have in place indicates that our performance over the last year, though strong, was certainly not a one-off.
“The progress which we have made is based on customer demand. We will add further relevant services to support our clients and ensure the growth trend continues.”
