Light Haulage Business For Sale

Business description

Established in 1998 this husband and wife team have built a successful and profitable light haulage business based on quality service, reliability, confidentiality and realistic pricing. They specialise in mainly single drop loads covering the whole of the UK and some European and Scandinavian countries. The business has been managed to a specific size and is prime for expansion.

Clients: The business has deliberately restricted itself to a small portfolio of valued clients. They have retained these customers based on the quality and reliability of service and by offering an instant twenty- four- seven service. This has instilled a level of confidence in their customers that other similar businesses have been unable to achieve or sustain.

Key strengths: The business has controlled its overheads by trading from the home base and using the services of self employed drivers on a “demand” basis. They have not followed the trend of reducing margins to buy work and as such have retained sensible margins in line with the level of service offered.
A well-maintained fleet of four LCV’s with specific load characteristics has increased their level of viability to key market sectors.

Key opportunities: There is a huge market available for a new owner who wishes to build on the excellent reputation that has been established.
The locality contains a significant number of industrial estates and business centres. Most of these have the need for a local, reliable light haulage operator who they can call at a moments notice and be sure of an instant response that most national companies are unable to achieve.
To date there has been no structured sales and marketing of this business with most clients coming from referrals. Doubling the size of this operation would be easily achieved by a structured mail shot, follow up call and physical appointment to establish a rapport and understand the specific requirements of prospective customers. Fax shots would also be a very cost effective method of maintaining ongoing contact. There is presently no local advertising.

Property information

Location:

Based in a leading South Coast town the business trades from the private residence of the proprietors. These premises are also available as part of the sale subject to separate negotiation, however the concern would be very easily relocated and could be run from the purchasers own premises or absorbed into an existing enterprise.
All major link roads are in close to hand giving access to the motorway networks.

Other information

Expansion potential:

The business has controlled its overheads by trading from the home base and using the services of self employed drivers on a “demand” basis. They have not followed the trend of reducing margins to buy work and as such have retained sensible margins in line with the level of service offered.
A well-maintained fleet of four LCV’s with specific load characteristics has increased their level of viability to key market sectors.

Competition / Market:

Light haulage has always been a busy and profitable market sector for those operators who control overhead, maintain standards and provide quality service. Demand will always be strong for this type of concern.

Support & training:

A comprehensive handover including an introduction to the client base will form part of a seamless hand over period to be agreed as part of the negotiation process.

Reasons for selling:

The owners have decided to move away from the area for family reasons.