Suttons Transport Group is investing heavily on its international business as it is the group’s growth area says group managing director Andrew Palmer. “The potential is staggering,” Palmer says, adding that while the traditional tanker business is still “very important” Suttons has a “clear view on which businesses we’re going to develop”.
Suttons International operates in Europe, the and Asia, and is currently in the process of applying to operate its own fleet in after 10 years of business there, rather than outsourcing as it does currently. Managing director of Suttons International, John Sutton, says it is hoped the first trucks will be bought early next year. He says it is “natural for the group to expand in [the international business] as it has been the better business in the group over the past six or seven years”.
The group has now essentially exited the distribution and general haulage sector – on which founder Alf Sutton began the company – after experiencing another “difficult” year. “There’s a big question mark over the future of general haulage,” says Palmer, adding that Suttons has scaled down to around 10 vehicles for this part of the business, from 50 three years ago. But the re-branding of the original haulage site as – whose tenants include KN Drinks Logistics – means the warehousing business has “a strong future”.
The firm has considered acquisitions in the tanker division, and Palmer concedes that Suttons has been “slow off the mark” in a couple of cases. He adds that while the group feels there are currently no opportunities in the , Suttons is “actively considering” possibilities internationally. Pre-tax profit for the group hit £1.3m in the year to April 2007, from £1.1m in 2006. The international arm of the business accounted for the firm’s 1.6% growth in turnover, to £84.2m. Turnover for the international business was worth more than half the total at £45.2m, while the tanker business remained static at £34m. Palmer forecasts group turnover to hit up to £93m in the next financial year, with a target of £120m based on organic growth by 2010.
- Suttons has published “Time and Tide – The History of the Suttons Group”, an account of the firm’s beginnings right through to current events.
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