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Gloucestershire Business News

County firm wins £4 million contract renewal

A Gloucestershire transport operator has won a contract renewal with a manufacturer of paper for corrugated cardboard.

Moreton Valence based CM Downton has agreed the deal worth £4 million a year with SAICA Paper.

The two companies have worked together since SAICA Paper opened its new paper mill at Partington, Manchester in 2012.

The contract covers the inbound transportation of full loads of recovered paper collected from various UK recycling sources into SAICA Paper's paper mill, and the outbound delivery of full loads of paper reels to customers throughout the country.

For this renewal Downton was able to reconfigure its component of SAICA Paper's overall transport requirement to optimise traffic flows. The resulting savings are shared with the customer.

The operation involves around 13,000 inbound loads and 3,000 outbound loads each year, or around 65 loads per day in total. To support the operation, Downton maintains an on-site team of nine full-time employees covering management, customer liaison, shunting and strapping roles.

David Hutchings, head of business development at CM Downton, said: "We have a strong working relationship with the customer and were able to demonstrate innovation, flexibility and value during the tender process to meet the client's evolving requirement.

"This type of business profile fits well within our network model because there are fewer time window constraints on inbound and outbound movements than normal. This provides the flexibility to keep costs down so we can pass the savings on to the customer, in what is a very competitive market sector."

Originally established by the Downton family and employing approximately 1,350 people at 16 distribution hubs strategically located throughout the UK, CM Downton was recently taken over by EmergeVest, an international private equity investor, in a £75 million deal.

EmergeVest says it will provide additional capital to finance the company's growth. The Downton family will continue to serve in their respective roles as senior management of the company.

EmergeVest's current UK portfolio includes Adjuno, Allport Cargo Services, NFT Distribution, NR Evans and Palletforce. Established in 1955 Downton generates annual revenue of around £120 million and operates 600 tractor units and 1,800 trailers.

Picture credit: Pixabay

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