European Dedicated Freight Transport Freight Forwarding and Storage For Sale

Business description

Established approximately seven years ago, having re-located to its current base – which being close to one of Britain’s largest ports is ideally positioned for the sector in which it operates - approximately eighteen months ago, this business specialises in next day and 48 hour deliveries and non-stop dedicated transport throughout Europe.

Operating from leased premises with a 4,000 square feet ‘footprint’ with ample space for storage of Client goods when required, this business is particularly renowned for its time critical deliveries across Europe. This business can boast a wide ranging customer base – a base of over 400 companies, a large proportion of which are active at any one time, which includes other freight operations with which it works very closely on a co-operative basis, freight forwarding companies, major ‘blue chips’ and other highly prestigious accounts including a major international sports team. It has an Operators Licence for 6 trucks and one trailer with National and European HGV licences in place. For any delivery – to the exact location at which it is required to be delivered and at exactly the right time – this is the business to contact.

The cornerstone to the success of this business really is the very high levels of customer service it provides. It does exactly what it says it will do. This business operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There’s no answerphone or recorded messages – there’s always someone to speak to. And for this business, arriving late is not an option – a philosophy that carries right through to its drivers and its partners and a philosphy that has endured as this business has increasingly evolved into a freight forwarding operation – reducing the need for its own fleet of vehicles and taking advantage of the literally thousands of contacts this business has built up with vehicle owners frequently crossing to and from mainland Europe. So concerned is this business with the punctuality of its deliveries it would rather leave early and wait to make a delivery than disappoint a customer by delivering late.

With turnover in excess of £1.8 million for the financial year ending June 2008, generating gross margins of approximately 16% and adjusted net profits of almost £220,000 when taking account of Directors remunerations, vehicle financing and factoring costs – this opportunity represents an excellent ‘bolt on’ acquisition for an existing freight operator to increase their presence in this marketplace or a new entrant into the sector to secure a well established, highly reputable and well known player in the industry.

Key strengths: .

This business prides itself on providing cost effective, reliable and safe solutions to all of its customers’ transport and haulage requirements. This business recognises there is much more to transportation than just moving cargo. Through its longstanding staff it has the necessary expertise, skill and knowledge to deal with the nature and dynamics of freight transportation from procurement and pick-up of shipments to delivery. This combined with a highly personalized, friendly service enables this business to boast an extensive, loyal and regular customer base.

This business has been carefully managed throughout its many years of successful operation. Growth of the business has always been paid for from current cashflow – demonstrating the on-going sustainability of its business. With all of its fleet now fully owned, the business has excellent foundations for future growth and expansion.

Responding to current market conditions, the business is increasingly operating in freight forwarding mode, taking full advantage of its excellent network of industry contacts to link in with loads already planned with ‘tried and tested’ subcontractors. With reduced overheads and operating costs, this business can operate flexible pricing policies – reflecting an awareness of its Client’s particular circumstances and the loads that may already have been planned, whilst still achieving very healthy margins.

Key opportunities:

There is an outstanding opportunity to build on the existing services and customer base of this business. With a strong demand for its services combined with a capacity to increase turnover, a new owner contributing fresh ideas and investment in resources, particularly in the areas of sales and marketing will have every advantage of building on an excellent platform.

There is certainly scope to leverage the excellent reputation this business has within its sector for reliability to increase its trading base beyond its current customer list. Having not felt the need for advertising and marketing to date, targeted investment in this area would help increase its turnover and profitability. Similarly this business could increase awareness of the storage capacity it has – a vital asset for a business operating in this sector and located as it is close to one of Britain’s largest ports.

With an excellent network of contacts throughout Europe – all capable of uplifting anything and bringing it back to the UK, this business is ideally placed to expand its freight forwarding role offering significant expansion opportunities for limited risk and minor investment.

The fleet:

All wholly owned, the fleet comprises7 Mercedes Sprinters – two of which are vans with the remainder curtainsiders, 1 x 7.5T truck with a double sleeper cabin together with three curtainsider trailers for towing behind other vehicles. The business rents additional vehicles on a short-term basis as and when required.

The business also owns two forklift trucks.

Financial information:

The business is offered for sale as a going concern. All financial discussions will take place directly between the vendor and all interested parties under the auspices of Turner Butler.

Turnover for the financial year ending June 2008 was approximately £1.82 million generating gross margins of approximately £302,000 and an adjusted pre-tax net operating profit of almost £220,000 when taking into account pre-tax net operating profits, directors remunerations and salaries, vehicle financing (all vehicles are now fully owned) and factoring interest payments.

The Asking Price of £425,000 is based on a sale of the shares in the business based on a zero Balance Sheet adjusted to reflect the real value of the fleet.

Property information

Property:

Leasehold

Lease terms:

The premises are leased with approximately eleven and a half years remaining on the current agreement. Rent reviews are due after 5 and 10 years with the next one due in 2012. Annual rent is £25,000 with Rates of £11,000 per annum.

Location:

This business operates from very well suited premises with a ‘footprint’ of approximately 4,000 square feet including office accommodation and a 300 pallet warehouse facility including racking. The premises were completely refurbished approximately 18 months ago ensuring they are more than fit for purpose.

The premises are extremely secure – within a gated compound with more than sufficient space for its fleet of 10 vehicles, accessed by a keypad with four tele-surveillance outdoor cameras with remote access capabilities.

The premises are located on a small business park close to one of the UK’s busiest ports and via excellent motorway links, to other ports in the UK offering both short and long sea channel crossings.

The premises are leased with approximately eleven and a half years remaining on the current agreement. Rent reviews are due after 5 and 10 years with the next one due in 2012. Annual rent is £25,000 with Rates of £11,000 per annum.

Other information

Competition / Market:

With the main Principals having worked in the industry for many years and having built up extensive contacts within the industry this business has invested little in marketing and advertising in the past, benefiting from high levels of residual awareness. By far its most effective marketing is strong word of mouth recommendation and the high levels of repeat business the business achieves especially amongst Transport Managers who move from company to company and invariably take this extremely reliable resource with them. The business has a very well designed and informative website that performs very well in all major search engines for all appropriate search terms.

Support & training:

The owners will provide full business familiarisation, training and handover to ensure a smooth transfer of the business.

Reasons for selling:

Having built the business up to its current position in the marketplace, the Owners believe the time is right to pass it on to new Owners to take it on to the next stage, building on the excellent foundations already laid.