UPN revenues up 4% in "landmark" financial year

UPN said its 2020/21 trading period was “a landmark year” after revenues rose by 4% to £10.3m.

Latest figures for the pallet network, for the year ending 31 March 2021, showed that turnover increased by almost £400,000 as it shrugged off any potential issues arising from Brexit and the “limited” impact of Covid 19.

Pre-tax profit reduced by 12.4% to £2.1m as the business made a number of investments in infrastructure and systems.

Its Lichfield SmartHUB opened in May 2020, offering upgraded support to members and providing capacity for growth for the next decade.

A UPN spokesman said: “The financial year 2020 – 2021 was a landmark year in the company’s history.

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“It’s been a really busy year within which we have maintained our ongoing strategy of strong stable self-sufficient business growth.

“UPN finances investment in its business entirely through shareholder funds eliminating any impact from Bank Interest fluctuations.

“In May 2020 we moved into our new SmartHUB central sortation facility which was a significant investment in our future.

“We also further invested in development of our bespoke operational IT systems for the benefit of both our members and their customers.”

The spokesman pointed to the success of the country’s pallet network sector in the face of the challenges of the last two years and he added: “Business continues to be good - so much so that this Spring we will be expanding our central operation into SmartHUB 2 to meet the demand for UPN services.”