Dangerous goods handlers grow export turnover and create jobs

Dangerous goods specialists Evolution Forwarding are targeting growth in their North East trading on the back of winning a major award for supporting export growth in the region.

The Teesside-based freight forwarding business won the Supporting Export category at the recent North East Exporters’ Awards after achieving a ten-fold increase in export turnover to almost £750k in just two years.

It was a second awards success for Evolution Forwarding, who had already received the Tees Valley Best New Business gong earlier this year.

From their headquarters on Middlesbrough’s Skippers Lane Industrial Estate and offices in London and Aberdeen, Evolution provide a speedy cargo service for dangerous goods, which are classified as any product that causes risk to person or property.

These include a wide range of products, from chemicals to nail polish, acids to perfumes, and toxic materials to lithium batteries.

While Evolution have seen their exports trade increase rapidly from 40% to 90% of their overall turnover during the past three years, fewer than 6% of the businesses they deal with are based on Teesside.

Managing director Terry Goldspink is now focused on building a strong North East customer base to add to such local clients as Teesside-based Johnson-Matthew subsidiary Tracerco, Stockton’s fire protection specialists Hawkes Fire, Middlesbrough’s global tank transportation specialists Bulkhaul and Seal Sands-based ITS Testing Services.

Mr Goldspink, who set up the business with his wife Amanda three years ago after 20 years’ experience in the forwarding industry, said: “We are massively proud of our achievements over such a short space of time. To be acknowledged with a North Exporters Award reaffirmed our own belief that the business is going the right way.

“But it is ironic that we have won a prestigious award for supporting our region’s exporters when, in truth, the majority of businesses we support are actually based outside the region.

“We deliberately based ourselves on Teesside so that we could target and serve the local chemical industry. We believed the chemical companies here would be our biggest customers.

“As proud Teessiders, it is frustrating that we are right at the heart of industrial Teesside, with one of the world’s biggest chemical sites on our doorstep and yet most of our business comes from the rest of the country.

“Our biggest disappointment is that we’re not servicing more North-east clients to the extent that we know we could.

“But we’re hopeful that the profile gained from our recent successes will not only confirm our commitment to the North-east but also assure clients in the region that the service we provide is second to none.

“We are in a prime position to help exporters and importers with their logistics for chemicals or indeed any other dangerous goods, so our target for the next 12 months is to increase our customer base throughout the North-east.”

Evolution recently extended their partnership agreement with Shanghai Milky Way International Chemical Logistics Group, a Chinese freight forwarder and logistics business.

The six-figure deal with the company’s biggest overseas partner will see Evolution continue to handle all of Shanghai Milky Way’s shipments into the UK and Ireland for the next three years

Evolution provide the Chinese partner with a facility-to-door service of sample chemicals delivered from the Far East to a range of international names including Johnson Matthey, Lucite International and GlaxoSmithKline in the North-east and Syngenta, AzkoNobel and Schlumberger in other parts of the UK .

In the last year alone Evolution have shipped around 17,000 kilos of samples in more than 150 shipments on behalf of the logistics group.

“Our Far East links are very much on the increase,” said Terry. “It seems to increasingly be the case that chemicals that were historically manufactured in the UK are now being produced in China but with samples being shipped here for analysis.”

With business gathering pace in both the Middle East and South America, Evolution are also looking to join forces with distribution agencies in both regions during the forthcoming months.

The company expects to recruit two more dangerous goods specialists to further bolster its capabilities over the next 12 months.

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