Shipping group targets acquisitions as it continues to boost business

A THRIVING Yorkshire shipping company is targeting new acquisitions as it embarks on plans to double profits.

The John Good Shipping Group, which was launched more than 180 years ago, has recently announced it is relocating its Hull-based head office to the newly developed Bridgehead Business Park in Hessle.

It is now on an ambitious growth path to boost gross profit to £20m by 2022. The group which is split into three divisions – shipping and logistics, warehousing and distribution and corporate travel – has a turnover of £41m. Twelve years ago, it recorded gross profit of around £2m, but this year, the group expects to achieve profits in excess of £10m.

Managing director Alan Platt has been with the family business for the past 15 years.

“We are on target to reach gross profits of £20m by 2022, but in order to do so, we will have to grow organically and through targeted acquisitions, which we will continue, and are continuing, to do,” he said.

Across the sectors, the group has completed eight acquisitions over the past eight years.

“We look at an average of one acquisition every 12 months,” Platt said.

Platt added that as it looks for acquisition opportunities, the business, which operates from 16 sites across the UK and also has international bases in Izmir, Istanbul and Shanghai, will be looking at geographical locations.

“We are geographically very strong on the east coast but not so well represented in the west of the UK or the south west,” he said.

“There’s still an awful lot of opportunity in our ability to grow organically with existing customers as well as develop business with new customers, but there are areas in the UK where we ought to be better represented and ought to be stronger.

“There are, and will be, opportunities for acquisitions that are a good fit for us.”

The business is family owned with John Good and wife Julie (fifth generation) and Tim Good (sixth generation) all involved in the firm as non-executive directors.

Platt said: “Being a family company has lots of benefits. We have a lot of flexibility and the decision making process is a lot faster. This enables us to be opportunistic and when opportunities come our way, we can react quickly.”

Platt said the group, which employs 270 people, has no plans at this stage to sell the business.

“The family are determined to be family-owned and grow and develop the business with the company’s family values running through it,” he said.

John Good Shipping has invested in IT over the past few years, an area in which Platt said will play a major part in competing with new businesses going forward.

“If we don’t keep up with it, we will get left behind and that is potentially a large obstacle for us,” Platt said.

“With the economy, there is very little anybody can do to reshape and redefine it – we all play with the same pack of cards so there is no point getting hung up on it. Instead, we should focus on the things we can control and that we need to focus on, and for us, that is IT.”

Platt said the business is making an on-going investment in this area and by the end of this year, will have changed all of the operating systems and will have spent well in excess of seven figures.

The group will move into its new 8,600 sq ft office complex before Christmas. It will be double the size of the current head office in Maritime House, Kingston Street, and provide room for more expansion, should the company need it.

“Moving the head office to Bridgehead has brought a great deal of enthusiasm to the business and our people. We are moving forward and it will be a completely modern environment for everyone to work in – you can’t put a value on what that does to your business,” Platt said.

“We have to try and make it exciting for our people. We have got a very good team of loyal staff who have been with us for many, many years. In order to keep the business going and drive it forward, we have to create opportunities and careers and the only way we can do that is to grow and develop.”

Platt said that as the group continues to grow, the move will lead to further job creation and career opportunities for existing member of staff.