The John K Philips Group, a St. Helens based Distribution & Warehousing Company, has joined PalletFORCE, one of the country’s leading palletised distribution networks, in the long-term interests of the company and its customers.

The Group was founded by John Philips in 1974 and, from humble beginnings driving his own vehicle, he has built the business into a successful operation running a large modern fleet of vehicles. The Group has always specialised in distribution to the Chemical and Paint Industry with all drivers being ADR trained, but diversification and rapid growth within the general distribution areas meant that a radical re-think had to take place and joining the PalletFORCE Network was the obvious answer.

 “I have always worked under the ethos of – Continuous Improvement – and joining the Membership of the PalletFORCE Network is a natural progression in this process and one that I and all the Staff look forward to working within,” states John Philips. “PalletFORCE shares our values and commitment offering quality of service, customer focus and professionalism.” 

With a fleet of vehicles ranging from 1.2 Tonne sprinters, 18 & 26 Tonne rigids with tail lifts to 44 Tonne tractors, a 130,000 Sq. Ft. COMAH registered warehouse operating 24/7, and the latest bespoke computerised computer systems to control both vehicles and warehousing, the John K Philips Group is big enough to cope and small enough to care.

 The John Philips Group has now taken on responsibility for the WN and WA (less WA4 to WA9) postcodes.

PalletFORCE, one of the country’s leading players in palletised distribution, has confirmed its reputation with the announcement that the Network is building a new state-of-the-art hub, which it claims will be a flagship for the sector.

The new hub – which will go live by the end of 2008 – will be located in Burton upon Trent.  Its single warehouse has been developed to deliver a bespoke environment offering faster throughputs and higher quality of operation.

 “Designed to PalletFORCE’s specifications, the hub is squarer in design than conventional warehouses to suit its specific mode of operation, and will allow a quicker turnaround of vehicles  With a size of 365,000 sq ft – compared to PalletFORCE’s existing premises capacity of 210,000 sq ft – increased capacity of up to 50% is anticipated,” says Carl Worgan, Operations Director. 

“PalletFORCE has grown rapidly since our launch in 2001, from 500 pallets per night to around 7,000,” explains Neil Carpenter, PalletFORCE’s Commercial and Finance Director.  “We have taken on new warehouses as demand has increased and made the most out of these premises, but there is a limit to what can be achieved with the existing arrangements as the buildings were created originally as aircraft hangars!”

 “Modern palletised distribution is a competitive environment and, in order to optimise efficiency, we felt that a bespoke design, based on our expert knowledge of what works, provides the ideal means to take the PalletFORCE business to the next level and deliver the highest standard of service to our Member Depots and their customers,” Neil adds. 

 Work on the building  is anticipated to start in February, with operations scheduled to begin before the end of the year.

PalletFORCE, one of the country’s leading palletised distribution networks, has announced the appointment of Michael Conroy as its new Chief Executive Officer, with effect from Monday 14th April 2008.

With over 18 years of experience in parcel distribution and third party Logistics, Michael is well placed to maintain and develop PalletFORCE’s growth.  He is currently the Managing Director of FedEx Supply Chain Services Limited (previously ANC Logistics). Based at Newcastle-under-Lyme.  During the seven years Michael was part of the senior ANC Group management team, the company saw a huge growth in both profit and turnover and the ANC business became synonymous with service excellence, which attracted the interest of FedEx Corporation who bought the company in December 2006.

Commenting on his new appointment Michael says “I am delighted to be joining PalletFORCE at such an exciting time and look forward to working with everyone to build upon the continuing success of the business”.  He goes on to say “a real opportunity exists for PalletFORCE and its members to differentiate itself from the competition by maintaining and re-enforcing the emphasis on quality whilst developing a range of services that will add real value to the member network and their customers”.

Michael lives in Stratford-upon-Avon and is married with two children. In his spare time he enjoys playing and watching sport whilst being an avid supporter of Newcastle United.

The success of Midlands transport company LIFT, which is part of the PalletFORCE palletised distribution network, has been underlined by a move to a new 2¼ acre site in Burton-on-Trent.                                            LIFT, also known as Lichfield International Freight Terminal, was previously based on farmland in the village of Alrewas but the company had outgrown the premises following a consistently strong performance.  

The new site is located in an industrial estate in Burton, providing improved access and logistics links to major roads.  The depot comprises a 35,000 sq ft warehouse and 2,500 sq ft of offices.

“The move has basically made our operation much easier,” confirms Ron Rowe of LIFT.  “Greater yard space enables us to use more forklifts and therefore improved speed and efficiency.

 “We feel that the Burton Depot is the ideal base from which to grow the business further,” he adds.

LIFT has been a Member Depot of PalletFORCE since the Network’s launch in 2001, and covers the DE and WS postcodes. 

Scottish transport company – and Member Depot of the PalletFORCE palletised distribution network – Gordon Leslie Distribution has moved into a new site to enhance the service it can offer to customers.

 The move came after an intensive period of growth at Gordon Leslie.  The company has recently completed its third year of trading since returning to family ownership; during that time sales have risen from £2.5m to £5.5m.   At the same time, long term Gordon Leslie customer and partner London City Bond – a supplier of bonded warehouse facilities to the wine trade – required an expansion of service.  Goods are stored under bond and transported from London to Glasgow by Gordon Leslie, from where its distribution fleet conducts onward delivery to hotels, restraunts and trade centres throughout Scotland.

 “Put simply, our existing site wasn’t big enough for the volumes we’re getting,” explains Managing Director Craig Leslie.  “We’d occupied the old depot in Linwood for 15 years but it was only 25,000 sq ft on two acres.  The new site is four times as big!” 

The 110,000 sq ft depot is built on 6½ acres of land at Hillington Park, Scotland’s largest park.  Strategically located on the M8 corridor between Glasgow City Centre and Glasgow International, it is ideally placed for Gordon Leslie’s needs.  The company has invested in significant refurbishment and security of the site to protect both its fleet and warehoused goods.

Craig Leslie believes the future outlook is strong for the firm.  “With the help of Ray Mackay, PalletFORCE’s newly appointed Regional Sales Manager for Scotland, we believe that we’ll see further growth for our PalletFORCE activities.  Accordingly, we have just placed an order for 15 new Volvo tractor units and rigids to be delivered in mid 2008,” he reports.