Rico Group's new MD Paul Parrish is expecting to double turnover within five years through an ambitious European expansion strategy.

Speaking to MT following his appointment to the role of MD earlier this month, Parrish said the business is poised for a period of rapid growth, thanks to significant investment by Indian parent company TVS.

A new head of its Same-Day courier network has been appointed to help lead the division's expansion, Carl Truscott. He will look to grow the operation domestically, with particular focus on increasing Rico’s SME customer base, as well as expanding across mainland Europe, where the firm already has a presence in 11 countries via its overnight delivery service, In-Night. “This is a big opportunity for us,” added Parrish.

Rico is on track to achieve £90m in revenue this year, said Parrish. “I would expect this to double over the next five years with the amount of investment we will be putting in and the drive from parent company TVS.”

In its results for the year ended 31 March 2014, Rico posted a turnover of £66.1m and a pre-tax profit of £5.3m - representing a profit margin of just over 8%. Parrish said this strong margin was as a result of the company’s asset-light model, as well as its ability to spread business across Europe. “We've got very few competitors, of our size, who can provide the European coverage that we can. We're not one of the big carriers with lots of heavy costs. We are very competitive in a very small market.”

Rico revealed last year to MT that it would be poised to take advantage of acquisitions if the market was to consolidate further, which Parrish believes it will do within the next few years. “The market is very competitive and most of our competitors aren't funded similarly or as efficiently as we are.” However he added that no acquisitions were currently in the pipeline.

Parrish joined Rico following senior positions held in the IT sector. He replaces former MD Sam Sharma, who has been promoted to work more closely with parent firm TVS in expanding the group outside of Europe.

Topics