Partner Article

UK Firm Appoints GM for Shanghai Office

Europa Air & Sea has appointed General Manager, Hugo Feng, to run its new Shanghai operation which has just opened in the Minhang District of the City. Hugo will oversee Europa’s domestic and international freight forwarding and logistics services within Northern and Eastern China.

Hugo brings a wealth of experience to his role, as well as the ability to bridge the gap between the European and Asian marketplaces. His significant insight into the global logistics sector will be invaluable to Europa Air and Sea, as the division strives to fulfil its strategic growth ambitions.

Europa Air & Sea is part of Europa Worldwide Group a rapidly expanding, privately-owned transport and logistics operator, which aims to surpass the £400m turnover target this financial year. Europa Air and Sea was established as a separate division of the business in 2015 and has gone from strength to strength, expanding across the UK and overseas. It already has a presence in Hong Kong, with an established base for over a decade.

Around 90 per cent of the world’s busiest ports are in Asia, with 60 per cent sitting within China. Shanghai is the world’s largest container port, by throughput, with a capacity of 43.5M TEU in 2020 and over 47M TEU in 2021. Ningbo-Zhoushan follows closely behind as the second busiest in China behind Shanghai, and the third busiest across the globe.

Speaking about his appointment and objectives for the Shanghai office, Hugo Feng commented: “I’m delighted to have been appointed to the role of General Manager, working closely with my Europa colleagues to spearhead our bold expansion plans.

“Shanghai is the largest seaport and airport in China, so our goal is to organically grow our sales force from this branch base to cover Central & North China and other inland areas by the Yangtze River.

“This plan will not only be beneficial to Europa as a business, but also our customers both here and in the UK, who will benefit from one business and one system managing their shipments from end to end.

“To kick-start the development of our Chinese client base, we are in the process of hiring a Sales Manager and a Business Development Manager.

“This will enable us to drive forward Europa’s footprint across the Chinese market, ensuring in-house coverage from both Shanghai and Ningbo airports/ports and the surrounding regions.”

Global trade reached a record high in 2021 according to a recent United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) report. In the last quarter of the year, all major economies saw imports and export levels exceed pre-pandemic levels, with trade rising more robustly in developing countries including China.

As an economic hotspot for domestic and foreign direct investment, Shanghai generates the highest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of any mainland Chinese city. Import and export values from its port comprise 20 per cent of the country’s total.

Angus Hind, Europa Air & Sea Director, said: “Hugo is a very welcome addition to the Europa Air and Sea team and will play a pivotal role in expanding our offer in China.

“We are continually striving to achieve greater global inter-connectivity for our import and export customers in line with trade flow trends.

“Our Shanghai investment is significant in this process because it will function as an international hub for the business, expanding Europa’s footprint across the Yangtze River Delta economic circle and beyond.”

As well as pushing into new overseas territories in recent years, Europa Air and Sea has consolidated its UK Air and Sea services in Heathrow and Birmingham, respectively. It employs a team across the globe, with at least one Air & Sea Business Development Manager at each of Europa’s 13 branches throughout the UK.

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