Merseyside road tanker firm Abbey Logistics specialises in the transportation of bulk produce and liquids and is aiming for a return to profitability. Tony McDonough reports
Merseyside road tanker specialist Abbey Logistics is investing £4.7m in a fleet of new DAF and Mercedes Benz tractor units as it looks to return to profitability.
Despite the devastating economic effects of the coronavirus crisis the company, which specialises in the transportation of bulk produce and liquids, has secured a number of new contract wins and renewals.
In 2016, chief executive Steve Granite led a multi-million pound buyout of the firm, backed by North West private equity specialist, NorthEdge Capital. It employs hundreds of people across the UK and customers include Hovis and Tarmac.
In late May the business, which operates a depot in Liverpool and two in Wirral, published its financial results for the 12 months to June 29, 2019. It saw a 1.6% rise in revenues to £62.7m but a pre-tax loss of £3.7m following what it called a “period of significant transition” which included a number of management changes.
Mr Granite said that, more recently, Abbey had seen a “significant improvement in financial performance, despite COVID-19”. He added: “Performance in the current financial year to June 2020 has seen a major improvement on previous years and a return to profitability since earlier this year.
“I am incredibly proud of what our team has achieved since we made structural and operational changes in late 2018, and not only are we back to where we should be financially, our service to customers is back to industry leading standards and our workforce is motivated and engaged.”
Abbey’s increased business pipeline, along with the “renewed energy and customer focus” reflects the company’s confident outlook, Mr Granite said and added more investment was planned in its fleet in 2020.
“Our workforce engagement levels are the best I’ve seen, and we’ve supported our key workers through COVID with increased sick pay, a bonus to be paid at Christmas and support including health packs and online fitness classes to recognise their hard work and dedication to keeping the UK’s food supply chain flowing,” he said.
Abbey’s latest order is a mix of DAF CF and XF and Mercedes Benz’s latest generation Actros. The vehicles are expected to go into service in September and will operate across Abbey’s large fleet of bulk liquid and powder road tankers.