Partner Article

Europa drives forward with Southampton branch expansion

Europa Worldwide Logistics, one of the UK’s leading privately owned transport companies, has strengthened its regional branch team in Southampton.

The move comes to meet increasing existing and new client demand as Southampton’s economy grows.

Based at the New Forest Enterprise Centre in Rushington Business Park, Europa has appointed a new branch manager in Southampton and increased the number of staff, from four to seven.

The company has hired an experienced expert in the sector, John Moy, as Southampton branch manager. John has 23 years of experience and has strong family links in transport and freight through his father, who is the manager at another logistics business based in Poole.

The appointments at Europa play an important role in building the firm’s market share in the Southampton area. The company believes it can double its consignments over the next 12 months.

The branch office, established for 20 years, has sufficient capacity to accommodate this additional growth. It is one of 10 branches across the UK, with the group employing 500 people.

Europa is expecting to add a number of additional routes throughout 2014 and also has plans to open another branch in the East Midlands to further strengthen its distribution infrastructure.

Europa Sales Director Dionne Redpath said: “John’s appointment and the investment in developing the team come at a time when we aim to meet a growing customer demand for both import and export.”

“Our aim is to be the UK’s clear number one groupage operator, and to achieve that we need to be number one in each geographic area of the UK. This step will greatly assist us in achieving that goal in the Southampton area”

According to promotions website Discover Southampton, there are over 7600 businesses operating in the city employing 120,000 people and is one of the country’s leading dockyards.

The Port of Southampton handles nearly 40 million tonnes of cargo a year according to Associated British Ports’ 2013/14 Port Profile of Southampton. Hampshire Chamber of Commerce’s Business Directory states that the Port is a principal driver of the regional economy and contributes over £2billion to the British economy annually. Southampton is well connected by road, rail, air and sea and is important for Europa’s expansion.

Europa’s Southampton office is embracing the expansion following its acquisition in August 2013 by Andrew Baxter. As part of the acquisition Mr Baxter announced the Group’s plans for investment in the business to maximise its potential across European business as well as air, ocean and logistics operations. Europa also opened a new branch in Leeds during November 2013, further demonstrating the commitment shown by the new owner for long term investment and growth.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Kathryn Greenwood .