P2P looking for further expansion in 2018
Malcolm Barrell, who was officially confirmed in his new role as CEO in January, has told Post&Parcel that P2P has “very big plans for 2018”.
“We will be building on the significant progress that we made in 2017, which was a year of some incredible highs – and a dramatic low – for us,” said Barrell.
The low point occurred in the early hours of 20 August, when a fire broke out at P2P’s Basildon facility. It was a Sunday morning and no P2P employees or members of the public were hurt in the blaze – but it was a traumatic event nonetheless, and a day that Barrell said he will never forget.
Perhaps the most dramatic aspect of the Basildon fire was the Phoenix-like speed with which P2P recovered.
“We were back up within 48 hours,” recalled Barrell, “and we were back to operating at the levels we pride ourselves on by the end of that week.”
The company had just taken on a new building in Slough and it was able to use this facility while it made the arrangements for its new, much larger premises in Basildon.
But the main factor in the speedy recovery, said Barrell, was the great team effort from management and staff.
Ian Dowie – who changed roles from CEO to Founder/Chairman at the start of this year, while Barrell moved up from COO to CEO – played a key role in the recovery operation.
Barrell said that the new management structure essentially “formalizes” a change which had already begun in 2017.
“It works very well,” Barrell said: “Ian is still fully involved, but he can focus on strategic direction, while I run the company on a day-to-day basis.”
Given that 2017 was a year in which P2P was literally putting out fires, it is all the more remarkable that the company boosted its annual turnover by 49% to hit £93m.
The cornerstone of this growth, Barrell told us, is TRAKPAK – the company’s global tracked delivery solution designed specifically to support e-commerce. Revenues for this solution grew from £33m in 2016 to £59m in 2017 – and even more is expected in 2018.
Barrell believes that TRAKPAK offers “real delivery value and real delivery choice” at a competitive price – so it chimes well with P2P’s recent rebranding.
“The rebranding reflects our core values,” said Barrell, “We are a ‘safe pair of hands’ that can offer high-quality services and expertise at a price point that works for the majority of customers.
“We are focused on providing a positive delivery experience for e-commerce customers – and that supports the retailers, who are our customers.”
To keep the forward momentum going in 2018, P2P will be taking on new senior people and also expanding its sales force.
“Alongside our plans to expand the business in the UK,” Barrell said, “P2P will also be looking to set up operations in other countries.”
Barrell couldn’t disclose specific details about this new venture and other plans in the pipeline – but advised us that an announcement would be forthcoming “in the next four to six weeks”.
