Loss of large customer affects revenues at transport group

COLD storage and transport business the Reed Boardall Group has reported a fall in turnover to £64.3m in 2016 which it attributed to the expected loss of a customer part way through the year.

However, the group’s revenues for the year to March 2016 still remained close to the previous year, which came in at £65.9m in 2015.

The company said, due to increased efficiencies within the business, profit before tax saw a slight rise from £3.2m in 2015 to £3.4m.

Serving leading retailers and food manufacturers throughout the UK, the company’s Boroughbridge cold storage facility is one of the largest in Europe.

Reed Boardall hailed “another strong financial performance despite an increasingly competitive market.”  

The slight fall in turnover compared to 2015 was attributable to a minor decrease in volumes due to the expected loss of a large customer however, Reed Boardall said it has “very quickly” made up the volume of stock in store.  

The company said the transport division continued to face a tough climate with costs increasing during the year which were difficult to recover.

Marcus Boardall, deputy chief executive of The Reed Boardall Group, said: “After more than 20 years as partners to some of the leading players in the British food sector, we have a tried and tested formula for cost effectively and reliably providing the integrated cold storage and transport services they need.

“With consumers shopping more frequently at outlets with restricted storage space, our customers are demanding smaller and swifter deliveries.  This fits well with our business model of a 142,000 pallet storage facility operating on a single site, enabling us to respond quickly with ‘order today, delivery tomorrow’ as well as providing excellent value as we are able to combine products from various customers.”  

Sarah Roberts, finance director, added: “With our solid track record providing these niche services, we are able to run an extremely efficient operation to the benefit of our customers in what is a very competitive sector.”

Reed Boardall is one of the largest temperature controlled food distribution businesses in the UK, storing and delivering frozen food from manufacturers across Britain, Europe and further afield to all the UK’s best-known supermarkets.