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ACS&T Logistics, the cold storage specialist, moved back into profit last year despite a drop in sales following the appointment of a new management team in 2007 and the subsequent restructuring of the business into three operating divisions.
Profit for the financial year to 27th December was £602,337 compared to a £801,401 loss made the previous year.
Sales were down from £27m to £24.2m as the company aligned customer and distribution activities to concentrate on the three core offerings. It says the new structure has enabled it to offer a wider range of value added services in the fields of temperature controlled storage and distribution, production support and co-packing.
Managing director Malcolm Johnstone said: “With the economy in recession, the manufacturing industry has begun to understand that outsourcing their logistics programmes to experts in the supply chain field, can result immediately in substantial operational efficiencies, improved cash flow reduced administration and the freeing up of on-site storage space.
“ACS&T has capitalized on this trend over the last 12 months by offering cost-effective, total logistics solutions which are designed to allow manufacturers to concentrate on doing what they do best – manufacturing.”
ACS&T Logistics began life as the London Ice & Cold Storage Company Ltd in 1921 and built the country’s first ever cold store for fish underneath Billingsgate Market. The business went on to open the country’s first low-temperature cold store, at Grimsby, in 1934.
Today ACS&T’s services are provided from four centres: Grimsby (Headquarters), Wolverhampton, Tewkesbury and Scarborough. The business currently operates 14 cold stores, 2 ambient stores, extensive co-packing facilities and large, dedicated and shared-user multi-temp transport fleets.
