Nightfreight bounces back after year of consolidation
British parcel and express freight delivery company Nightfreight has said its three-year development plan is beginning to pay dividends. The company based in Willenhall in the West Midlands is predicting a £2m pre-tax profit and £123m in sales this fiscal year, which ends in November.
Next year, it is expecting its turnover to grow to £130m, and pre-tax profits to more than double to £4.6m.
Nightfreight just about broke even in 2009 during a “difficult trading climate” in its business-to-business and business-to-consumer operations, achieving a pre-tax profit a smudge under £50,000 on sales of £118m. It had enjoyed a bumper year in 2008.
Existing customers shipped reduced volumes last year, the company said, adding that its results had been in line with expectations.
Going forward, however, the company owned by Pengais Investment Ltd has renewed confidence after a year of consolidation, with restructuring and investment in supply chain innovations including vehicle telematics system means Nightfreight now has a “strong platform” from which to build, according to Group finance director Ian Horsfall.
The company has emphasised the value of its service – and that has paid off with an expansion of its customer base, which has underlined expectations for growth.
New customer accounts have included Spicers, Iforce and Carpetright plc to go alongside repeat business from the likes of Office Depot, Jungheinrich, Vacu-lug and Rapid Racking.
“Strong platform”
“We’ve established a strong platform going forward as part of our three-year strategic plan with repeat business, major new client wins and operating more efficiently,” said Horsfall.
“In particular, we have seen significant demand for our specialist Deliver2home and network solutions services, as well as new business gains in the one-man parcel sector including Bosal UK, Moore Large & Co Ltd and Fusion Provida.”
Nightfreight employs more than 2,000 staff operating across 53 sites nationwide, with 1,097 vehicles in its fleet.
The company’s Group finance director said his company needed to continue to invest in its operations and innovate in its network operations.
“Future plans will see us creating a model depot, from which all operations will be modelled,” said Horsfall. “This will be a blueprint of how we expect all our depots to operate in future.”
Nightfreight is also planning to introduce new in-can hand-held devices across its entire one-man network.
“These are exciting times for the company, we’ve made huge steps forward and we’re firmly focused on the future and the next stage of development,” said Horsfall.
