UK Logistics Companies have lots to shout about

When it comes to attracting new clients, most transport, warehousing and logistics companies in the UK have many more opportunities to raise their profile then they might imagine. That’s according to industry specialists, Full Mix Marketing, who deliver marketing for a number of growing logistics companies.

“Like many established industries, firms in logistics can feel there aren’t many ways to set themselves apart. However, success is increasingly about being seen, rather than being different,” says Sarah West, founder and Managing Director of Full Mix Marketing.

Full Mix Marketing is an East Anglia B2B marketing agency and works with a number of 3PL and FMCG logistics providers across the UK. West, a Chartered Marketer and fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), believes those keenest to tell others about what they do are frequently the biggest beneficiaries of new business opportunities.

“Companies often pick the logistics partner with whom they are most familiar and have the greatest trust. Innovation and excellence are important, but it’s often firms which simply shout about the great job they do which attract the most leads,” she says.

According to IMARC Group, the UK logistics market reached £394 billion in 2023 and is expected to reach £664 billion by 2032, with an anticipated growth rate of 6% per year.

Established in 2016, Full Mix Marketing has quickly grown to become one of East Anglia’s leading B2B marketing agencies, working with companies across the UK in manufacturing, engineering, technology, business services and logistics. The company delivers all aspects of digital, traditional (non-digital) and strategic marketing, ranging from websites and search engine optimisation, to brochures, presentations and entire marketing strategies. However, one of the key forms of marketing which the agency has seen become most beneficial for its clients in logistics is content marketing, including press releases, articles and other business news.

“Social media, email marketing and trade press all give logistics businesses an opportunity to engage directly with their potential customers. Whether it’s helping out a client, updating their facilities or building a strong team, we can always find opportunities to create interesting content which raises their profile,” adds West.

Content marketing can also have significant additional benefits to a company’s online presence by boosting their search engine optimisation (SEO) and the likelihood of being found online by prospective customers. Amongst the logistics, transport and warehousing businesses which Full Mix Marketing work with, a number have recently reported major new contract wins and others who have been successfully purchased by larger logistics groups.

“Amidst rising competition, logistics companies are finding that marketing is enabling them to proactively take control of their growth. Companies can be concerned that marketers might not understand what they deliver, which is where our experience in logistics proves so valuable” concludes West.

read more

Industry View: Top 10 KPIs Every Fleet Manager Should Track

 

UK Logistics Companies have lots to shout about

When it comes to attracting new clients, most transport, warehousing and logistics companies in the UK have many more opportunities to raise their profile then they might imagine. That’s according to industry specialists, Full Mix Marketing, who deliver marketing for a number of growing logistics companies.

“Like many established industries, firms in logistics can feel there aren’t many ways to set themselves apart. However, success is increasingly about being seen, rather than being different,” says Sarah West, founder and Managing Director of Full Mix Marketing.

Full Mix Marketing is an East Anglia B2B marketing agency and works with a number of 3PL and FMCG logistics providers across the UK. West, a Chartered Marketer and fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), believes those keenest to tell others about what they do are frequently the biggest beneficiaries of new business opportunities.

“Companies often pick the logistics partner with whom they are most familiar and have the greatest trust. Innovation and excellence are important, but it’s often firms which simply shout about the great job they do which attract the most leads,” she says.

According to IMARC Group, the UK logistics market reached £394 billion in 2023 and is expected to reach £664 billion by 2032, with an anticipated growth rate of 6% per year.

Established in 2016, Full Mix Marketing has quickly grown to become one of East Anglia’s leading B2B marketing agencies, working with companies across the UK in manufacturing, engineering, technology, business services and logistics. The company delivers all aspects of digital, traditional (non-digital) and strategic marketing, ranging from websites and search engine optimisation, to brochures, presentations and entire marketing strategies. However, one of the key forms of marketing which the agency has seen become most beneficial for its clients in logistics is content marketing, including press releases, articles and other business news.

“Social media, email marketing and trade press all give logistics businesses an opportunity to engage directly with their potential customers. Whether it’s helping out a client, updating their facilities or building a strong team, we can always find opportunities to create interesting content which raises their profile,” adds West.

Content marketing can also have significant additional benefits to a company’s online presence by boosting their search engine optimisation (SEO) and the likelihood of being found online by prospective customers. Amongst the logistics, transport and warehousing businesses which Full Mix Marketing work with, a number have recently reported major new contract wins and others who have been successfully purchased by larger logistics groups.

“Amidst rising competition, logistics companies are finding that marketing is enabling them to proactively take control of their growth. Companies can be concerned that marketers might not understand what they deliver, which is where our experience in logistics proves so valuable” concludes West.

read more

Industry View: Top 10 KPIs Every Fleet Manager Should Track

 

Addressing Challenges in Global Logistics with Technology

Over the last four to five years, we have experienced disrupted logistics — broadly defined here as the interruption or complete breakdown of the supply chain functions at one or multiple levels, writes Buddharatn Ratawal, Senior Manager for Strategic Business Development for the DELMIA brand at Dassault Systèmes.

Going back 14 years ago, the logistics industry dramatically reduced capital expenditure in 2008 when the great recession hit. Most of the companies never really resumed the pre-recession rate of expenditure growth. In fact, the outperforming logistics vendors today (based on profitability and revenue growth metrics) are the ones that were extra cautious on capital expenditure in the years following the recession.

The industry had a very clear objective for the next decade:

· Keep costs low

· Stay lean

· Remain efficient Due to this slow and steady approach, the logistics industry was able to keep margins stable even when it faced overcapacity in 2016—which is interesting to note as today, challenges revolve around container shortage and port congestions.

When COVID hit in early 2020, the slow and steady approach seemed right once more in hindsight. However, not long after, consumer spending behaviour changed significantly.

Shift in consumption behaviour and demand asymmetry

When COVID hit, there was a huge shift in consumption behaviour. In the short term, the expenditure on both goods and services saw a sharp decline. However, the expenditure on goods resumed to the pre-pandemic level within just a few months. Interestingly, it wasn’t until mid-2021 that the expenditure on services recovered on the same level.

This trend continues even today. There is a clear shift from spending on hotels and recreational services to spending on furniture, home equipment, footwear, etc. This shift is more prominent in North America as they have typically, bigger houses and therefore, more scope for concepts such as a home gym and home office. This meant a huge movement of goods from East Asia to Western Europe and America, creating an asymmetry in demand as well as freight rates.

Increasing cost and lack of resources

Years after the start of the pandemic, ocean freight rates still remain high and reached an all-time high towards the end of 2021. Similar behaviour was seen across road transport and air cargo. Although transport cost across all modes have been trending downwards for the last few months, it merely represents a shift in bottleneck from containers and transport vehicles to port handling and driver capacity.

The increasing number of incoming vessels at US coasts especially in the east has caused a huge increase in the waiting times at the ports. A similar situation exists in Northwestern Europe and there are multiple reasons for it:

· Lack of workers at the port due to strikes

· Declining number of truck drivers

· Lack of trucks and rail infrastructure to handle incoming load

The labour shortage is reaching crisis levels and is affecting large logistics companies that are cutting their financial outlook, citing hiring difficulties. In March 2022, the United States had a record-high 8.1 million vacant job openings. According to the Worker Shortage Index, there are roughly only half as many workers for every job vacancy as the average over the last 20 years, and the numbers are on a downward trajectory.

Challenges in global logistics

To overcome a wave of disruption, several measures need to be taken. They must be carried out with four broad stakeholders and objectives in mind. In no particular order, they are:

1. Profitability for shareholders For operations-heavy industries such as logistics, most cost saving lies in ‘doing it right the first time’. The best way to achieve this is to have a system that allows organizations to create the virtual twin, which predicts the future in the most realistic manner possible.

2. Satisfaction for customers Capabilities that ensure continued customer satisfaction are the ability to:

· Ensure capacity for the most profitable customers and products

· Calculate demand and supply for each stage of the production process and optimize daily

· Take into account all the factors that influence your capacity

· Quote dates that optimize profitability, throughput and customer satisfaction

3. Work-life balance for employees An integrated approach to logistics planning gives complete visibility of all assets and people to make the best use of drivers and vehicles in an optimized way.

4. Sustainability for the Environment A planning and optimization solution enables companies to include CO2 emissions as a planning KPI and not just a reporting metric.

Read Similar

Role of Digital Logistics Intermediaries

 

Addressing Challenges in Global Logistics with Technology

Over the last four to five years, we have experienced disrupted logistics — broadly defined here as the interruption or complete breakdown of the supply chain functions at one or multiple levels, writes Buddharatn Ratawal, Senior Manager for Strategic Business Development for the DELMIA brand at Dassault Systèmes.

Going back 14 years ago, the logistics industry dramatically reduced capital expenditure in 2008 when the great recession hit. Most of the companies never really resumed the pre-recession rate of expenditure growth. In fact, the outperforming logistics vendors today (based on profitability and revenue growth metrics) are the ones that were extra cautious on capital expenditure in the years following the recession.

The industry had a very clear objective for the next decade:

· Keep costs low

· Stay lean

· Remain efficient Due to this slow and steady approach, the logistics industry was able to keep margins stable even when it faced overcapacity in 2016—which is interesting to note as today, challenges revolve around container shortage and port congestions.

When COVID hit in early 2020, the slow and steady approach seemed right once more in hindsight. However, not long after, consumer spending behaviour changed significantly.

Shift in consumption behaviour and demand asymmetry

When COVID hit, there was a huge shift in consumption behaviour. In the short term, the expenditure on both goods and services saw a sharp decline. However, the expenditure on goods resumed to the pre-pandemic level within just a few months. Interestingly, it wasn’t until mid-2021 that the expenditure on services recovered on the same level.

This trend continues even today. There is a clear shift from spending on hotels and recreational services to spending on furniture, home equipment, footwear, etc. This shift is more prominent in North America as they have typically, bigger houses and therefore, more scope for concepts such as a home gym and home office. This meant a huge movement of goods from East Asia to Western Europe and America, creating an asymmetry in demand as well as freight rates.

Increasing cost and lack of resources

Years after the start of the pandemic, ocean freight rates still remain high and reached an all-time high towards the end of 2021. Similar behaviour was seen across road transport and air cargo. Although transport cost across all modes have been trending downwards for the last few months, it merely represents a shift in bottleneck from containers and transport vehicles to port handling and driver capacity.

The increasing number of incoming vessels at US coasts especially in the east has caused a huge increase in the waiting times at the ports. A similar situation exists in Northwestern Europe and there are multiple reasons for it:

· Lack of workers at the port due to strikes

· Declining number of truck drivers

· Lack of trucks and rail infrastructure to handle incoming load

The labour shortage is reaching crisis levels and is affecting large logistics companies that are cutting their financial outlook, citing hiring difficulties. In March 2022, the United States had a record-high 8.1 million vacant job openings. According to the Worker Shortage Index, there are roughly only half as many workers for every job vacancy as the average over the last 20 years, and the numbers are on a downward trajectory.

Challenges in global logistics

To overcome a wave of disruption, several measures need to be taken. They must be carried out with four broad stakeholders and objectives in mind. In no particular order, they are:

1. Profitability for shareholders For operations-heavy industries such as logistics, most cost saving lies in ‘doing it right the first time’. The best way to achieve this is to have a system that allows organizations to create the virtual twin, which predicts the future in the most realistic manner possible.

2. Satisfaction for customers Capabilities that ensure continued customer satisfaction are the ability to:

· Ensure capacity for the most profitable customers and products

· Calculate demand and supply for each stage of the production process and optimize daily

· Take into account all the factors that influence your capacity

· Quote dates that optimize profitability, throughput and customer satisfaction

3. Work-life balance for employees An integrated approach to logistics planning gives complete visibility of all assets and people to make the best use of drivers and vehicles in an optimized way.

4. Sustainability for the Environment A planning and optimization solution enables companies to include CO2 emissions as a planning KPI and not just a reporting metric.

Read Similar

Role of Digital Logistics Intermediaries

 

Outline Planning Consent for Derbyshire Logistics Development

Harworth Group plc, a leading regenerator of land and property for sustainable development and investment, has secured a resolution to grant outline planning consent from Amber Valley Borough Council for the development of c1.5 million sq. ft. of Grade A Industrial & Logistics space and up to 300 new homes at its Cinderhill development in Derbyshire.

Harworth owns or controls the majority of the site through a combination of freehold ownership and under a Planning Promotion and Marketing Agreement (PPMA). The company is the first developer to unlock this complex site since taking control of it in 2018 and this planning achievement further evidences the Group’s ability to create value from its Strategic Land portfolio.

Located in Derbyshire, adjacent to the A38, the Cinderhill site has a long history of industrial uses including an iron foundry and opencast coal extraction. The Group’s proposal includes land remediation, site servicing and installation of high-quality infrastructure to facilitate the construction of Grade A commercial units. The regeneration of this site once complete is expected to create over 1,000 new jobs and the whole scheme has been carefully designed to incorporate infrastructure capable of supporting sustainable living and provides connectivity via cycle paths, footways and bus routes.

Lynda Shillaw, Chief Executive at Harworth, commented: “The receipt of planning at Cinderhill is a significant milestone as this complex site has involved careful masterplanning over the years alongside collaboration with a number of different stakeholders. This achievement highlights our specialist skillset and track record of securing planning and regenerating former industrial land. We look forward to playing a part in the delivery of a high-quality sustainable scheme in a region which has a strong manufacturing and logistics presence and where Harworth continues to see strong demand for our serviced land products.”

read more

Griffen Sells Derbyshire Warehouse for £13.7 million

 

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