(From left) Richard Smith, MD of Kinaxia Logistics’ primary sector business, Simon Hawthorne, general manager, trunking and network control at ArrowXL, and Adrian Boardman, senior operations manager, Mark Thompson Transport

(From left) Richard Smith, MD of Kinaxia Logistics’ primary sector business, Simon Hawthorne, general manager, trunking and network control at ArrowXL, and Adrian Boardman, senior operations manager, Mark Thompson Transport

Kinaxia Logistics has agreed a five-year contract to provide all domestic linehaul and trunking services for two-person home delivery specialist ArrowXL.

The deal sees Mark Thompson Transport, which is part of the Kinaxia Group, expand its partnership with ArrowXL, which has, since 2019, been providing a large proportion of ArrowXL’s trailer-based client collections, returns and carousel movements.

Under the new arrangement Mark Thompson Transport will also assume responsibility for all domestic linehaul and trunking services.

ArrowXL, which has its headquarters in Wigan and has sites at Worcester, Airdrie, Carrickfergus and Enfield, delivers more than two million customer orders a year for retailers, ecommerce companies and manufacturers. Deliveries include domestic appliances, furniture, sofas, beds and mattresses and garden items.

Mark Thompson Transport already has operating centres and dedicated drivers based at ArrowXL’s hubs in Wigan and Worcester, and will open new ones in Enfield and Airdrie, as well as providing all units and trailers required to fulfil the contract.

Following the deal, 14 drivers employed by ArrowXL will transfer to Mark Thompson Transport under TUPE regulations, with plans to recruit more drivers in line with the expansion resulting from the deal.

Richard Smith, managing director of Kinaxia’s primary sector business, said: “We are excited to be extending our relationship with ArrowXL and welcoming new drivers into the Kinaxia family.

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He added: “This five-year contract is the result of a lot of hard work by the ArrowXL and Mark Thompson Transport teams and is a reflection of the service that we have been providing over the last four years. We are now able to build on this joint success and further cement our partnership.

“At the same time, the arrangement reinforces our nationwide capabilities in the primary sector and creates growth opportunities across a wide area of the UK as well as enabling us to offer more flexibility to our existing customers.”

Charlie Shiels, ArrowXL chief executive, said: “This decision is a natural extension of our current arrangements. We both work really well together, and this change will help us to create more and better opportunities for our many clients. This could be in improved first mile capability or higher levels of service excellence.

“ArrowXL and Mark Thompson Transport are a good cultural fit and both put customer service at the heart of their operational capabilities.

“We look forward to creating an even more innovative relationship as we get to know even more about each other’s strengths and capabilities.”

Kinaxia employs more than 1,600 staff nationwide with a fleet of over 850 vehicles which transport goods for the retail, leisure, food and drink and manufacturing sectors.

The group, which has its headquarters in Macclesfield, Cheshire, has 2.7 million sq ft of warehousing and offers contract packing, e-fulfilment, returns management, storage services and a complete distribution service.

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