Knowles Logistics boosted both turnover and profit by almost a fifth last year, powered by new and existing business wins and the continued benefits from the acquisition of Masters Logistical services in 2022, its latest annual results reveal.
The company, which has its headquarters at Wimblington March in Cambridgeshire, specialises in the food, drink and food packaging sectors. It offers contract logistics, full- and part-load transport, retailer consolidation, pallet network distribution, dedicated fleet management and contract packing and operates more than two million sq ft of warehousing.
Reporting its results for the year to 31 December 2024, the family-run firm unveiled a 19% rise in turnover to £75m (2023: £63m) and an 18% jump in pre-tax profit to £4.5m (2023: £3.8m).
The group’s transport turnover provided the largest share at £44.8m (2023: £38.8m), whilst storage, warehouse and handling turnover rose to £29.7m (2023: £23.6m) during the year.
EBIDTA also increased markedly to £8.7m (2023: £7.7m), which the company’s business review of the results said highlighted the impact that increasing depreciation and amortisation charges has had on profits as a result of continued capital investment in the group.
Cash and cash equivalents also increased from £1.3m to £3m, which Knowles Logistics said was “a positive, given the significant investment across the group in recent years and following the acquisition of Masters Logistical Services Limited.”
The review said the year’s growth was fueled by securing new customer contracts and expanding work with existing clients, adding that the acquisition of Masters Logistical Services in October 2022 had continued to deliver benefits across the group, along with ongoing investment across the group’s warehousing and transport operations.
“Overall, the directors are pleased with the results and the future prospects of the business and believe they are in an excellent place to further solidify their prominent position in the ambient food and drink logistics sector going forwards,” the review concluded.
Speaking to MT, chief executive Alex Knowles said he was pleased with the group’s performance in 2024. “Last year was the result of a lot of investment and a lot of hard work from the team.
“It was a good year, and it was good to be recognized at the Motor Transport Awards - for Sustainable Transport and particularly for Business Excellence,” he added.
Turning to 2025, he said: “We are in line with last year. Obviously we’re still in peak at the moment. So as long as we deliver a strong peak, which we’re looking likely to do, we should be in a good place. Turnover will be up and profits should be slightly up as well.
However he said trading conditions remain challenging in the sector: “It’s not plain sailing for anyone in the industry at the moment, or, I think in any business. It’s a tough, tough sector and a tough economic backdrop as well.
“The government has not made things any easier for us. Obviously, we had that massive NI increase to the business last year, and we’ve had to have some tough conversations with customers regarding that.
He added: “So yeah, it’s a bit of a grind, but we are seeing strong demand for our services, particularly in the sustainability space. We are about to order some more electric trucks for a specific customer. We got seven in the fleet already and we are just about to place an order for another three, so that’ll take us to double digits, which will be good.
“We want to be a market leader in sustainable logistics - we’ve got two or three case studies now that we can use to show where electric can be applied successfully and cost effectively.
“So we’re rolling that out across various operations and giving customers the option to make part of their operation electric. And we have had quite a bit of interest, particularly from our large multinational clients, who have got strong ESG agendas and goals, but also increasingly we are seeing more interest across the entire customer base.”
Knowles said the company was also considering greater use of automation this year. He said: “We are looking at automation particularly in the warehouse at the moment.
“We have our first piece of automation coming early next year, with a view to rolling out some more, particularly with regards to co-pack and automated guided vehicles within the warehouse. That’s becoming more attractive to us, particularly as employee costs increase.”
Asked what the next 12 months will bring the group, Knowles said: “In a year’s time I think we’ll continue to grow in the areas we’re in. There’s plenty to go for. The brand’s in a good place and the sector is still big and we may look in the near future to expand geographically, to harness synergies on transport.
As for the possibility of further acquisitions, Knowles said: “We are potentially still on the acquisition trail but it has to be for the right business which fits in with our brand.”
