Top 100 2008: Introduction

• Introduction
• Largest 100 Companies
• Return on Sales
• Growth in Turnover
• Growth in Profit
• Sales per Employee
• Profit per Employee
• Notes to Tables

It has been another tumultuous year for the road transport industry, and one that has been littered with casualties. Firms that collapsed – sometimes in spectacular fashion – included E Pawson & Son, the Innovate group of companies, Macfarlane Transport Holdings, Amtrak, Page Group, JDR Distribution and Ramage Distribution.

Such grim news has not, however, prevented other businesses hitting the expansion trail, sometimes by acquiring all or part of companies that have hit the buffers, or by acquiring healthy operations with an apparently-rosy future. Wincanton and Stobart Group in particular have expanded through acquisition over the past 12 months, indicating confidence in the long-term prospects for the economy despite current upheaval.

Wincanton occupies the number two slot in the Top 100 once again this year, with logistics behemoth DHL yet again at number one. Kuehne + Nagel is in third position, outpacing TNT and Ceva Logistics, with Norbert Dentressangle catapulted into sixth place thanks to its acquisition of Christian Salvesen.

Many transport companies still manage to achieve praiseworthy performances despite the pressures that beset the industry. Once again Turners (Soham) has come up with impressive return-on-sales figures, and the same can be said of Pentalver Transport, and Knowles (Transport).

All these companies have positive stories to tell when it comes to profit-per-employee too, as do Goldstar Transport and ECM among others.

With a tough 2009 to look forward to, one cannot help but wonder how many firms trading today will be around in a year’s time, and how many will have drastically cut back their operations. Well-run firms such as Turners however show that it is possible to win through, despite adversity – and when the economy hits rock-bottom, the only way is up.