Miniclipper Logistics almost doubled pre-tax profits last year boosted by “sustained high demand” for warehousing services.
The family firm, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, provides transport, storage and warehousing solutions for the medical, construction, print, retail and food sectors and is a member of Palletline and Hazchem.
Reporting its annual results for the year to 31 May 2021, the Bedfordshire-based company revealed a 10% growth in turnover to £16.2m (2020: £14.7m) and a 97% pre-tax profit rise to £1.5m (2020: £796,176).
The company attributed the profit surge to “sustained high demand for warehousing services from both existing customers and prospects which saw all five sites operating at full capacity for the majority of the 2020/2021 financial year”.
Gross margin increased from 42% in 2020 to 45% in 2021, while net assets increased from £3,465,704 to £4,521,695 during the year, which Miniclipper Logistics said was a result of focusing on cost control and process improvements across its transport and warehousing operation.
The company also continued to invest in the business during the year, relocating its transport operations to a new 4.5-acre site in Dunstable during April 2021, as a result of a £2.7m investment.
The new site, which is double the size of its previous Billington Road site in Leighton Buzzard, now houses Minclipper’s transport operation, including a fleet of 40 7.5-tonne, 18-tonne, and 44-tonne MAN trucks plus 30 trailers.
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In a second phase of the company’s investment programme, another £2.5m is being invested in its Billington Road site to create an additional 10,000 pallet spaces.
The facility, which is expected to be fully operational in mid-2022, will have 450,000sq ft of storage and over 45,000 pallet spaces across five sites in Leighton Buzzard, Houghton Regis and Dunstable.
As part of the wider group investment Miniclipper has also spent £500,000 updating its IT, telecoms, and security systems as well as “significant" grounds and office improvements.
Miniclipper also appointed Jon Parish as commercial director in November last year. Parish, whose brief is to support the continued growth and profitability of the business, has worked in the logistics industry since 1992 for companies including DSV, Lindal Group, XPO and Rhenus Logistics.
Miniclipper’s MD Peter Masters said: “Transport volumes have been consistently high in the last financial year, with an ongoing pressure on wage costs and driver recruitment.
“Storage revenue during this pandemic remained consistently high, with demand levels showing no signs of slowing.
“We have proactively researched many quality and safety systems and invested in the Riskex and GoAudit software platforms to ensure consistent reviews of all our operations takes place and to maintain our high standards.
“As a result we were awarded a Silver award by RoSPA for significant safety performance for the second year running,” he added.
