EV Cargo company CM Downton, one of the UK’s leading providers of logistics and distribution, has sealed new and extended business worth over £40 million after a number of contract wins.
Gloucestershire-based Downton has recently refined its customer offering by embracing technology and leveraging its relationship with sister EV Cargo companies to deliver operational benefits and enhanced efficiency for customers.
The company has sealed a major distribution contract with Rolawn, Britain’s leading supplier of quality turf products, by offering an efficient one-stop solution for nationwide distribution. Downton will undertake deliveries direct to wholesale garden outlets and manage consolidation by using local delivery partners – boosting delivery efficiency and minimising costs.
Downton has also extended its contract with specialist container manufacturer Berry Global, having provided transport services for the past two years. The extension will see Downton manage the transport from manufacturing plants at Deeside and Rushden, with a fleet investment in new higher trailers to further enhance utilisation.
A new contract win with Belgian logistics firm 2XL will see Downton distribute ambient food products arriving into Tilbury docks from the 2XL consolidation centre in Zeebrugge. Produce will be destined primarily for Aldi and Lidl regional distribution centres.
Downton is also undertaking warehousing and distribution at its Moreton Valence site for Pet Foods UK as part of a new agreement, which will see it store over 4,000 pallets and undertake distribution to both retailers and wholesalers – including an element of online sales fulfilment.
The final tranche of new business is with Smiths News and sees Downton use its strategic base in Dunstable to provide primary trunking for the Smiths News magazine packing hub in Hemel Hempstead. This serves 11 locations across the south east and allows Smiths News to reduce its contractor base from three to one.
Duncan Eyre, CM Downton managing director, said: “After announcing £30 million of new contract business in April this year, this series of additional long-term work marks a successful year for Downton as we focus on delivering on our growth strategy by providing integrated, technology-enabled solutions as part of EV Cargo.
“We’ve added new clients and successfully developed current trading partnerships, building on Downton’s heritage of cultivating long-term relationships by supplying customer-focused, quality warehousing and distribution services.”
Graeme Stephenson, operations manager at Bramlage Industrial UK (part of Berry Global), said: “We chose Downton to deliver our transport requirements at our Rushden manufacturing site as we have been very impressed with the service levels that they have consistently delivered at our Deeside plant. It was an easy decision to extend the contract to encompass transport activities at Rushden as well.”
Paul Dawson, managing director of Rolawn, said: “Our existing distribution system has worked extremely well over the years, however, as we continue to grow, we need a partner who can provide us not only with the quality of service our customers have come to expect, but also with the availability of vehicles at peak times.”
Ray Renwick, head of distribution and planning for Smiths News, said: “We’ve chosen Downton to ensure we get best value from our trunking contracts through spend consolidation and providing longer term contract commitment whilst working with existing suppliers to ensure service levels were maintained through a significant period of change.”
