Palletline has climbed back into the black. It made a pre-tax profit of £1.47m in the financial year ending 30 June 2006, following a loss of £766,000 in the previous 12 months. This was despite a 5.6% dip in turnover to £9.3m.
Its financial report describes the results as "a strong trading performance in an increasingly competitive market."
Palletline, the first of the UK's pallet networks, embarked on a series of cost-cutting
measures in 2004 following the arrival of Glyn Jones as managing director.
Some £2m was saved when the two central hubs were amalgamated Jones also changed the network's focus to concentrate on revenue and volumes generated by members, rather than hubs. The business currently has 63 members, up four over the past year.
Jones expects growth to come from new as well as existing members: "It's clear that the members own the business. We will be developing without corporate accounts which, for members, can imbalance their trunks and offer competitors a way into the market by providing cheap delivery services at members' own expense.
"I am very positive," he adds. "We will continue to see volume growth and continue the process of hacking costs away where they are not adding volume - an existing example being property costs in London."
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