Fast-growing Essex forwarding and logistics specialist Velta International has added two more strings to its bow, with the launch of a new export service and the opening of a dedicated air freight office at Heathrow. Founder and managing director Doug Reynolds tells Sheline Clarke why these are important pieces in the Velta jigsaw

The Government’s target is to double UK exports to £1trillion by 2020 – what better time for Velta International to set up a new export consolidation service?

However, this Witham-based company’s move to establish a so-called export NVO (non-vessel operating) service from this month (December) is based on far broader foundations.

“Demand for exports from the UK is picking up,” says managing director Doug Reynolds. “We already have well established clients and a successful import and third-party logistics (3PL) business and we have seen very fast growth in the past year since our relocation – this is the final piece in the jigsaw. Our import clients are increasingly asking about export services, and we are responding. A company that can handle both import and exports is a much more attractive proposition.”

Of course, Velta’s move does fit well with the government’s targets, he says. “But in any case this is a natural progression for us. We don’t want to wait for exports to really take off – we want to get established before they do.”

The new service is being headed up by Velta’s import NVO manager, Steve Burnett, and Ralph Langstaff, a highly experienced logistics man who has joined Velta from a leading consolidator to head up sales and development.

Velta will be offering LCL (less than container load) consolidation services for cargoes destined for Asia, the Middle East and the United States. The concept is a common one in the logistics world – not everyone has enough volume to fill an entire 20-foot container, so Velta will combine clients’ cargoes to make up a full load.

“For a company exporting or importing that doesn’t have the volumes for full containers, we will consolidate it for them – and put four, five or six shipments into one container for export or import,” says Ralph Langstaff. “It is like a person posting a letter to Cardiff; you don’t drive all the way there yourself with one letter, you hand it over to the Post Office.”

The new service will receive export cargo at depots strategically located throughout the UK – they will then be brought to a central warehouse in Essex for loading into containers ready for transport to the port.

“We are working with a lot of forwarders on import consolidation services, who are interested in export,” says Steve Burnett. “Also, there are a lot of forwarders in the UK not currently using our services because we haven’t offered exports until now. Offering export alongside import consolidation gives us a lot of opportunities to approach new clients.”

A key factor is overseas consumers’ increasing desire for the ‘Made in Britain’ label, which is seen as luxury and high end, says Mr Burnett. That’s particularly the case in China and Asia, and in the Middle East.

“There are many companies making high-end products in the UK and exporting to those regions,” he says.

Doug Reynolds adds: “There are a growing number of people in China who have money to spend, and that number will continue to increase. They want what we have here. Manufacturing is increasing in the UK and we expect it to carry on increasing in the coming years.”

Mr Reynolds set up Velta in 1999. Until last year it was based at Great Braxted but it outgrew its premises there far more quickly than expected, and it relocated to Witham’s Eastways industrial estate, alongside the A12, in the summer. This gave it the space needed to expand its warehousing, logistics, distribution and e-commerce activities.

Containers are brought direct from the Port of Felixstowe to Witham; they are unpacked in the warehouses and products are stored for clients for distribution from there, for either internet purchases or retail. Velta also does reworking, repacking, labelling and quality control, especially for e-commerce fulfilment.

The company has established a particularly strong reputation in the music and footwear markets. Velta is the official logistics provider for the Music Industry Association, which counts most UK music companies among its members. Customers include the US-based Peavey Electronics, one of the world’s largest manufacturers and suppliers of musical instruments and professional audio equipment. Velta is responsible for handling Peavey’s shipping from Asia and the US into Europe, running bonded warehousing for the company.

In the footwear sector, Velta provides value-added services for key clients – collecting the products in China, sorting, quality control and labelling in the UK, internet sales and distribution throughout Europe.

Both these areas of expertise put the company in a strong position for handling UK exports.

As Doug Reynolds puts it: “Anybody can move a container from A to B. It’s adding value that counts.”

The opening of the air freight office at Heathrow is another important step. “We handle 30 to 40 air freight jobs a month at present and until now these have been handled from Witham,” he says. “Now all of that will be handled at Heathrow. This move will enable us to step up our air freight operations and it will also be important in our export business. We are starting small, but expect o have eight or nine people in the team at Heathrow within three months.”

At Witham, meanwhile, numbers have continued to climb. When Velta moved into Eastways last year, it had 24 employees. Now there are 40 people on the team and offices are being refurbished at the end of the warehouse to accommodate more people.

“We are expanding at a rapid pace, because there are a lot of opportunities,” says Mr Reynolds. “We have another two joining us in the next few weeks, and more to come in 2014. We have no plans to stop expanding; and once our export service is established, we will need more people to do the documentation, too.”

In the run-up to Christmas, Velta has been working flat out, putting on extra shifts and taking on temporary staff to help.

On the sea freight side, the Christmas peak starts in September, and it’s now over. Delivering products into the shops is at its peak in November/December, and the e-commerce side gets increasingly frenzied throughout December. “We will be sending out internet orders right up to the day before Christmas Eve,” says Mr Reynolds. “People order shoes with us for next-day delivery, to wear that night – so our picking accuracy needs to be absolutely spot-on!”

What’s the secret of Velta’s success? Steve Burnett doesn’t hesitate. “It is customer service, above everything else,” he says. “A lot of our business comes through recommendations.”

Ralph Langstaff says it was the energy and enthusiasm of Velta that attracted him to join the company.

Personal service is vital, says Mr Reynolds. “People who call want to speak to someone. We don’t have an answer phone system which makes people press one, two or three and then leaves them hanging on. Our clients can ring up and get straight through to the person they want. All our documentation is done in the UK and so is our invoicing. These are our core values – they are no great secret.”