Clipper Logistics almost broke the £200m turnover barrier in its most recent results, covering the six months ended 31 October.

The retail logistics specialist grew turnover by 21% year-on-year to £199.7m (2016: £164.9m).

Clipper's pre-tax profit also grew in the six months, rising 15.6% to £7.9m (2016: £6.9m).

The operator said some of the extra turnover had come from the acquisitions of Tesam Distribution and RepairTech, which completed during the period and were "immediately earnings enhancing".

Clipper also launched new operations for M&S, River Island and Secret Sales in the UK, as well as a new returns service for ASOS in Poland.

Earlier this week the operator also announced it had renewed its storage and distribution with Superdry owner Supergroup.

Chief Executive Steve Parkin said: "The first half of the current financial year saw strong organic growth on existing contracts, particularly in the e-commerce sector, and this was complemented by contract wins and two strategic acquisitions. Both of these acquisitions are performing in line with our expectations.

"The new business pipeline continues to be strong, and we expect the positive momentum from existing and new contracts to continue into the second half of the year."