News

RCS Logistics has returned to profitability after two years of losses and is currently in discussions with two potential acquisition targets. The Corby-based haulier has delivered pre-tax profit of £303,497 for 2007, on a turnover of £5.9m. Prior to this, RCS reported losses of £56,623 for the ten months to 31 December 2006, and £156,776 for the year ended 28 February 2006, with turnover down at around £4.5m for both periods.

Chairman Simon Smith, admits to MT that he took his eye off  the ball for a while. "We became flabby and I made a couple of wrong decisions, but since then we've cut a lot of the dead wood out and are now reaping the benefits." Steve Gray, commercial director, adds: "We concentrated on fairly basic stuff, such as running full vehicles, deploying a fuel charge escalator, and focusing massively on customer service, but it paid off as we returned to profitability a lot quicker than expected."

This year RCS is aiming to achieve a profit of just under half a million and according to Smith is "on track to do so". It is also looking to expand through acquisition. "We feel that now is the time to grow on the back of these good results and are looking at acquiring two companies: one just off the M62 and one along the M4," says Smith. "One of the businesses is looking to sell due to the owner retiring and one is finding it extremely tough at the moment."

Over the next couple of months, RCS hopes to "progress talks with both firms". RCS started  life as Ray C Smith in 1973 trading as a coal merchant. Over the years, Ray C Smith Haulage and Ray C Smith Storage were formed, and in 2006 the company merged the two businesses to create RCS Logistics. Today it runs 50 vehicles - customers include J Sainsbury and Avon Cosmetics. The firm has been shortlisted for MT's Haulier of the Year Award.