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Clipper Logistics delivered record revenues of more than £500m last year, boosted by a strong e-fulfilment performance and some “value-enhancing” acquisitions.

Unveiling its final results to the year ended 30 April 2020, the group said revenue had increased by 8.8% to £500.7m (2019: £460.2m), whilst pre-tax profit leapt almost 19% to £20.1m (2019: £16.9m).

Group earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) - described by the company as its key performance indicator - rose 19% to £24.1m (2019: £20.2m).

The group said it had experienced “significant” organic growth, particularly in e-fulfilment volumes, leading to “milestone” revenues of over £500m.

New deals in the period included contracts with Amara, Joules, N Brown, the NHS, SLG and the Very Group.

The group also expanded existing contracts with PrettyLittleThing.com, Neon Sheep, Levi Strauss, Sports Direct, Vestel and Ginger Ray.

It also continued its drive into electrical product returns, landing deals with Amazon, John Lewis and the Very Group.

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Clipper Logistics also weathered the pandemic lockdown, seeing a “sharp bounceback after high street retail volumes fell, driven by rising demand from new and existing food retail customers, including Tesco, Asda and Morrisons.

Revenue was also boosted during lockdown by a new NHS PPE supply chain deal which saw the company mobilising in just four days to deliver PPE to NHS Hospital Trusts and other healthcare providers across the UK.

The group is also predicting that its ClickLink service will benefit from government moves to encourage the use of click and collect as part of a strategy to boost high street footfall.

Steve Parkin, Clipper Logistics executive chairman, said: “I am delighted to report such a strong set of final results as Clipper reaches a significant milestone, delivering record revenues exceeding £0.5bn.

“This has been driven by strong organic growth in the period, particularly in e-fulfilment, and value-enhancing acquisitions made in prior years.

"The impact of government restrictions affected many of our retail clients, however it was testament to our long standing and proactive client relationships and broad service offering that activity levels have swiftly bounced back and have since achieved record levels after the initial disruption.

“There will, without doubt, be longer-term changes to the retail landscape. However, we are confident that our ability to evolve our solutions to meet client needs will ensure that Clipper benefits from these trends as the shift to online retail accelerates.

"Recent contract wins, together with a strong pipeline of new business activity and the further evolution of our click and collect proposition, we believe place the group in an excellent position to achieve further growth both in the UK and internationally and we look forward to the new financial year with confidence as we continue to deliver shareholder value."