UK road freight and distribution firm Premier Logistics has agreed to buy Hull-based fellow Pall-Ex member, CJ Express Logistics, in a move that will increase the Leicester haulier’s group turnover to £21 million.
Following the deal, groupage and full-load operator Premier Logistics will have more than 150 employees, 125 vehicles and 30,000 sqm of warehousing space across its three locations: Leicester, Hull, and Reading.
Lee Christopher, managing director at Premier Logistics, explained that branching out along the M62 corridor to the east to gain better access to the north of England was a key element of Premier’s business plan. He commented: “The port city of Hull offers a vast market for groupage and full-load work, and CJ Express were open to new energy and investment.
“We are delighted to have added this extremely competently run business to our Premier group of companies, while Pall-Ex’s palletized freight distribution network will benefit from an increase in groupage, generated by our focus on sales and growth.”
Premier said CJ Express’ founders, husband and wife team Nick and Susan Carter, have joined the Premier Logistics team as commercial manager and health and safety manager, bringing the benefit of their many years of industry experience to operations across Premier’s three sites, in Leicester, Hull, and Reading.
Nick Carter, co-founder of CJ Express and now commercial manager at Premier Logistics, commented: “The deal with Premier Logistics is exciting for both parties. We had been contemplating the future of our business for some time. We wanted to ensure continuity and growth for all of our stakeholders, creating development opportunities for the staff and retaining CJ Express’s Pall-Ex partnership.”
He continued: “This very amicable and mutually satisfactory deal presented an ideal solution. CJ Express’s solid reputation for quality and strong operational core will be an asset to Premier’s group of companies; while I’m confident that the Premier team will invigorate CJ Express, ensuring progression for the business, which will now participate in a larger network for full-load traffic in and out of the North East.”
Premier said it would invest around £500,000 in the CJ Express fleet in the coming months. Mark Steel, sales director at Premier Logistics, added: “CJ Express will retain its own well-established identity, but we’re injecting a Premier flavour into its livery, which now incorporates Premier branding.
“For now, we’re strengthening synergies between the companies by coordinating traffic management systems and integrating operations, while our Leicester headquarters is performing a central planning function to ensure efficient, linked operations.”
Kevin Buchanan, Pall-Ex group managing director, commented: “This deal demonstrates the importance of working alongside quality partners. Membership of Pall-Ex’s UK and European network is a key competitive advantage for any business in terms of optimising growth and development opportunities.
“I am delighted that CJ Express, a long-serving and consistently high-performing Pall-Ex member, will continue to deliver the highest levels of network service, and congratulate Premier Logistics on its ambitious growth and progress.”
Source: LloydsLoadingList