Colley Brothers Ltd, a Grimsby, England-based distributor of fish products to wholesalers and foodservice operators throughout the United Kingdom, has been acquired by DFDS, the Copenhagen, Denmark-headquartered ferry transport and logistics specialist. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
DFDS has capacity for 11,000 pallets at its cold storage facility in Grimsby. More than 50,000 metric tons of salmon pass through it on an annual basis.
Colley Brothers Ltd. was founded in 2006 by David and Peter Colley (pictured above), who will continue to manage the business. It employs 45 staff and has a fleet of 30 temperature-controlled vans. Annual revenues are about £2.3 million.
“The acquisition will greatly enhance our operation in Grimsby, where we will be able to consolidate our important businesses servicing the seafood industry further,” said Eddie Green, head of BU Cold Chain, the refrigerated logistics unit of DFDS. “It will broaden our range of activities and enable us to offer express delivery as a new activity. It will also add a number of well-established companies to our client list and help us increase the load fill in our current network, and thus increase efficiency to the benefit of our customers.”
Niklas Andersson, executive vice president of the Logistics Division, commented: “This is another strong move by Eddie and his team in BU Cold Chain in line with our Win23 strategy’s ambition of creating new growth in selected industries. I congratulate the team, welcome our new colleagues to DFDS and am very pleased that we enhance our service to an important industry.”
On the Ground in Dover and Liverpool
In January BU Cold Chain established a new office in Dover to support international business passing through that busy port, and earlier this month it announced takeover of the Magnavale Group’s coldstore in Liverpool, effective April 6. The company’s transport operation in Warrington will be consolidated at that location.
The Liverpool coldstore has capacity for 18,000 pallets, including a fully automated chamber holding 10,500 pallets. This will be the first warehouse of its kind run by DFDS.
Managing Director Matt O’Dell remarked: “This is a great step for BU Cold Chain. The operation will form an important link in our network and enable us to provide more customers with both cold storage and transportation services, which will give us a strong platform in the North West of England from which to grow further.”
“The business will be led by Andy Thompson and great credit should go to Andy for his part in negotiating the deal and securing new customers in advance of DFDS taking over the operation. This will ensure a healthy start to the new venture,” said Green.
DFDS Outlook 2020 Suspended
Meanwhile, DFDS’ outlook for 2020 has been suspended following further restrictions on intra-European travel and general lockdown measures across Europe resulting from the deadly novel coronavirus epidemic that has spread from Wuhan, China to the rest of the world. A number of passenger routes have been suspended until further notice. Passage on DFDS’ English Channel and Baltic Sea routes is reduced to only essential travel, but as these routes carry an overweight of freight they will continue to operate.
As anticipated in the outlook for 2020, freight volumes linked to UK were for the first two months of 2020 lower than last year as volumes in Q1 2019 were boosted by UK stockpiling. Freight ferry volumes between Europe and Turkey were above 2019 for the first two months of 2020, likewise in line with expectations.
Until now freight activity has been in line with expectations, but has started to decrease as manufacturing plants suspend operations and demand in general is impacted by the coronavirus-forced lockdowns. Contingency planning to mitigate effects of changes in demand and operations for both ferry and logistics activities is ongoing across DFDS’ network.
The outlook will be updated once it is possible to assess the financial impact of Covid-19 infections caused and the coronavirus. Among other things, more visibility on the duration of the lockdowns and demand development after quarantines are lifted is required.
Established in 1866, DFDS employs approximately 8,000 people and operates in numerous ports and offices throughout Europe. In view of the reduced financial visibility, the company’s board of directors has decided not to propose the payment of a dividend at the annual general meeting to be held in April 2020.
