A North West tanker firm has revealed its delight after securing a long-term partnership with British Sugar following a successful four years of working together.
Wirral-based Abbey Logistics Group has renewed its deal with British Sugar plc, a subsidiary of Associated British Foods, with the contract providing bulk sugar for firms across Great Britain.
Abbey, the UK's largest provider of bulk food road tanker services and based at Wirral International Business Park in Bromborough, said the two companies have successfully delivered various high-profile projects focusing on customer service, management information, and reducing "empty miles".
Abbey said that as a result of the close collaboration, British Sugar has improved its ability to provide sugar to their customers across the UK in a "much more reliable, cost effective and flexible way".
Mike Ellis, Abbey Logistics’ business development director, said: “Abbey’s contract team together with British Sugar’s logistics team have worked shoulder to shoulder over the past four years and delivered every objective we set out to achieve.
“The success of the two teams working together demonstrates the importance of a collaborative approach to transport operations of this scale and proves how effective working in partnership can be in delivering on objectives and providing the best possible service to customers.
“We are delighted to be continuing this partnership with British Sugar and we look forward to many more successes in the future.”
Abbey said the environmental impact of the operation has also been reduced through improved and more dynamic real-time planning, significant fleet investment in newer more efficient vehicles and trailers, and closer collaboration with customers.
As the sole processor of the UK’s beet sugar crop, British Sugar processes around 8m tonnes of sugar beet that produces around 1.4m tonnes of sugar each year, providing for major food and drink manufacturers
Stewart Dickson, logistics contracts manager at British Sugar, said: “We knew from previous hauliers that the KPIs we set Abbey Logistics were challenging, but we also knew that by adopting the right approach and working closely with us, they were achievable.
“Our business is unique and never predictable and for Abbey to succeed they needed to work alongside us to understand our customer profile and the characteristics of our sector.
“We’re delighted that they did just that. From day one their contract team began building relationships with my team, and spending time to understand as much as they could about our business.
“It certainly paid off as their delivery on time performance demonstrates, and on top of that we have seen multiple projects and initiatives that ultimately makes British Sugar more competitive and able to provide a better service to our customers.”
