Norbert Dentressangle scores big with UK businesses
The sum represents the total worth of the contracts across the entire length of their term in annualised terms, they are worth £78M.
Norbert Dentressangle was picking up business in the UK market from customers looking to optimise their supply chain, said Myers. One increasingly lucrative area was freight forwarding, where the company was organising the practicalities of moving freight into the UK via ship or air on behalf of overseas clients, he said.
"The business is actively engaged in the development of freight forwarding, organising each step from, say, China, buying space at ports and offloading in the UK." In particular, it was heavily involved in moving fresh fish into and out of the UK.
The company was also implementing significant supply chain efficiencies and consolidation measures, which entailed investing £750,000 in IT infrastructure, said Myers. "We're investing in internal systems to better manage our costs. We've undertaken a review of our operations and tried to project that forward to determine how we see the market in the next 10 years.
"We are exiting one or two smaller sites that represent more generalised and commoditised activities, but there are nine temperature-controlled sites that we're looking to grow." These included Easton in Nottinghamshire. In total, the firm operates 83 UK sites.
Extensions to chilled and frozen facilities could include additional automation, said Myers. The firm is implementing voice-picking technology and vision systems such as optical label readers in its depots. It is also investing in vehicle technology. It was rolling out software that monitored driving styles to improve fuel efficiency and cut road miles. It was also using gadgets that detected trailer temperature variations to prevent stock damage.
In March, Norbert Dentressangle reported 2009 sales down 12.5% from £3.1bn to £2.7bn and pre-tax profit down 15% from £59.7M to £50.9M. Existing customers include Tesco, Asda, Birds Eye and Speedibake.
