Turners (Soham) has continued its drive into the container sector with the acquisition of Goldstar Transport, creating a group with a combined turnover of more than £350m.

Turners (Soham) MD Paul Day said the move was part of the company’s goal to expand its presence in the container logistics market and that given Goldstar Transport's status in the market the acquisition made perfect sense.

“Goldstar is one of the market leading companies, so they’ve got the knowledge, they’ve got the experience and expertise, and we get on well. I thought it was a sensible expansion to the business,” he said.

Turners bought container operator Macintyre Transport in January, and Day said that combined, the businesses should create a significant competitor to market leader Maritime.

But outperforming competitors is not Turners’ primary motivation, Day added. “We want to run our business sensibly and develop over time. We respect Maritime who are also an excellent company,” he said.

In 2015, Goldstar Transport had an annual turnover of almost £89m and it has a fleet of 350 vehicles. This, with Turners (Soham) and Macintyre Transport’s 2015 figures included, creates a group with a combined turnover of £350.9m.

This latest acquisition boosts Turners' container fleet to 750 vehicles, supported by 450 subcontractors.

Day said he wanted to grow Turners’ container business because it was particularly suited to the company’s core skills.

He told Motortransport.co.uk: “It’s a high volume space, and it’s about who can operate vehicles in the most efficient way. That’s something that Turners is good at.

“We’ve got years of experience and knowledge of running trucks efficiently and it’s something that I think we can do well.”

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He added that Goldstar’s management team would remain the same, and that the company would be run as a separate business for the foreseeable future.

“In the long-term it’s probably natural for us to take as many integrated opportunities as we can, but that’s very long-term. In the next few years we’ll focus on the separate companies and optimising their operations as best we can,” Day said.

Goldstar Transport MD Matthew Ashworth said he was “excited” by the opportunities the transaction would give the business.

He said: “The support of Turners will be hugely beneficial to the long term success of Goldstar, its customers and its staff. I am excited by the future opportunities we’ll have, and I look forward to continuing to drive the business forward with my fellow directors.”

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