The boss of haulage and warehousing company Fergusons Transport says investment on the firm's doorstep gives him confidence for the future.
Alan Ferguson said the firm "picked up business in some places and dropped it in others" during the pandemic, but said investment on Fergusons' home turf of South East Northumberland - hinting at the forthcoming Britishvolt gigafactory at Cambois - could provide new opportunities.
Cramlington-based Fergusons, which is 100 years old, reported a rise in turnover from £19.8m to £20.8m in the year to the end of September 2021, and an increase in operating profit from £294,136 to £371,244.
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An 11% increase in turnover in the firm's haulage business was largely attributed to increased prices as the additional cost of wages and fuel costs were passed on to customers, while warehousing turnover dropped from £4.4m to £3.7m having been affected by a reduction in the handling of materials out of storage.
Speaking to BusinessLive, Mr Ferguson said: "We're quite optimistic about the future because of the levels of business we're attracting. There's so much new investment coming into the south east Northumberland area and we've got a lot of facilities there, so we're well placed to pick up some of that business."
The firm is planning capital investment in its 75-acre Cramlington site, as well as expansion of its fleet and drivers. However, difficulties in acquiring new lorries - caused by the semiconductor manufacturing shortage which has hit the automotive manufacturing trade - has meant Fergusons has only just taken receipt of new vehicles that were due to arrive in September last year.
He added: "The new vehicles have got better fuel economy and with the cost of fuel going up it's important to update the fleet."
Fergusons has fuel surcharges in place meaning customers will bear the brunt of price rises, though Mr Ferguson said most clients were understanding of the move given inflationary pressures.
On the booming logistics sector spurred by the pandemic's impact on online retail, Mr Ferguson said it had been a mixed picture for his firm. While Fergusons has been training younger drivers to plug skills gaps and mitigate well publicised HGV driver shortages, the growth of "white van man" businesses supporting parcel deliveries has taken some experienced drivers out of the industry.
It means problems with driver shortages, though not as acute as several months ago, still exist - though of a driver workforce of about 200 people, Fergusons currently only has a few vacancies. Covid continues to pose a staff availability challenge but one that is more short term, according to Mr Ferguson.
In a bid to retain and attract drivers throughout a buoyant jobs market, Ferguson introduced salary increases in October last year, at a time when rivals were promising monthly bonuses.
He added: "We've got 100 years trading under out belt and we're still a family business which means we can care for our staff more through traditional family values. One of my favourite phrases is that 'nobody works for us, they all work with us'. "
On the impact of Covid, he said: "It's caused a lot of supply chain problems. The problem with semiconductors within automotive manufacturing has caused stoppages on production lines and that has a knock-on effect down the supply chain.
"Because we do warehousing as well as transport there have been times where the transport figures have been particularly hit, but the warehousing has done better because we've had to keep hold of the goods. That's what makes the business sustainable going forward because there is more than one side to it."
Mr Ferguson said he believed than in all the time Fergusons had been trading it had never recorded a loss.
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