R. Swain & Son saw £15m added to its revenues last year and turned in a robust performance despite operating within a “challenging environment”.
Latest financial results for the year ending 31 December 2022 showed that the Rochester, Kent business increased turnover by 25% to £72.1m.
Pre-tax profit increased by just over a fifth to £874,000 during the period.
Group MD Matthew Deer told motortransport.co.uk its acquisitions of Proctors Transport (Langar) and W C Coy & Son contributed towards revenue growth and also provided it with a new depot in Nottingham, which helped expand operations.
He said its building materials, special projects and container business Express Freight all performed strongly but its transport work remained challenging.
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“Overall, we are seeing positive areas in certain parts of our business but like everyone is seeing in the industry, there’s definitely a downturn,” he said.
The company added that it had been forced to realign its bulk transport operation Eurobulk, which it purchased in 2020, to reflect the post-Brexit environment: “Getting exports out was a problem and empty running became an issue,” Deer explained. “But last year we started doing unaccompanied trailers from Europe and that’s been quite successful.
“We have got a better model, gives us more time and reduces empty running.
“With our model it eliminates the problem of drivers waiting around for documentation, T1s for example.
“The other big thing is trying to receive VAT on fuel in Europe; it was quite easy pre-Brexit. Now it is a challenge - and fuel costs are a lot more expensive in Europe.”
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