The founder of a North West courier service said the business is set for a record year after a major restructure.听
Proactive Despatch is on track to report a turnover of 拢1.45 million and record profits in the current financial year after a strong trading performance.听
Managing director Paul Woods said in the last 12 months the company has replaced its fleet of 10 vehicles with approved subcontractors and moved office from St Helens to Widnes.听
鈥淲e鈥檙e a much more resilient business and now we鈥檙e primed for growth,鈥� he said. 鈥淲ith our reduced overheads we鈥檙e a much leaner operation.听
鈥淲e鈥檙e on track to hit the same turnover as last year of 拢1.45m but with record profits, which we can invest in things like better technology to improve the customer journey further still.鈥�听
Woods set up Proactive Despatch in 2008 and it handles around 1,500 orders a month.听听
He said: 鈥淲e鈥檙e like a chauffeur service for parcels and pallets rather than people. We are a business-to-business, urgent response courier. If a customer wants something in Glasgow in the next five听hours听then they鈥檒l call us.鈥�听
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The entrepreneur said the pandemic had accelerated a planned restructure of the business.听
鈥淲hen Boris Johnson announced the first lockdown in March 2020 everything stopped,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e were really quiet for a听month听but I resolved to pay my team and pay my suppliers, both which I did.听
鈥淲e were already in the process of using approved subcontractors rather than our own fleet of vehicles and Covid accelerated the pace of change.听
鈥淥ur customer service is second to none and that served us in good stead during the pandemic.听
鈥淲e move high–value stuff. For example,听if an oil rig off the coast of Aberdeen needs a replacement piece of equipment to get the oil rig working again then they鈥檒l call Proactive Despatch.听
鈥淲e charge the customers based on the size of the vehicle and how far it goes. It could be a Jiffy bag on the front seat or a van full of freight.鈥�听
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The company, which employs nine people, relocated from St Helens to Widnes in 2020 and听Woods said the same-day courier company was perfectly placed to capitalise in 2021.听听
鈥淚鈥檓 so lucky to have a brilliant team around me,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 amazing what you can do when your backs are against the wall.听听
鈥淥ur financial year runs from September to听August听and we鈥檝e had a fantastic start to the new year and a record performance before Easter.鈥�听
The managing director added: 鈥淲e want to grow. In business you can鈥檛 afford to stand still because then you鈥檙e going backwards.听
鈥淚鈥檓 obsessed about customer service. In terms of听tech听we鈥檝e got state-of-the-art booking systems which enable customers to book quickly but we are looking to invest in technology to improve the customer journey even more.鈥�听