Freight business invests in Irish depots with Yorkshire Bank backing

18th March 2013

Two new overseas depots have been launched by a West Yorkshire international freight business as part of its growth strategy, after gaining backing from Yorkshire Bank.

New, bigger depots, which replace existing facilities, have been opened in Dublin and Belfast by international groupage freight company, Redhead International, with funding support from Yorkshire Bank’s West Yorkshire Business and Private Banking Centre, Bradford, through its Growing Businesses initiative.

Privately-owned Redhead International, Low Moor, Bradford, has invested £2million in the two new 30,000 sq ft facilities in Belfast and Dublin which will increase the volume, speed and efficiency of its services in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. 

Tony Suggitt, managing director of Redhead International, said: “We have always had a formidable distribution and collection network across Ireland. These new depots are a big improvement on our previous premises both in terms of size and facilities and will continue to cement our position as a market leader for Irish freight.
 
“Our business continues to prosper in spite of challenging financial conditions. We offer a single freight supplier for the whole of Europe and specialise in shipping to countries outside the EU such as North Africa and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Our continuing expansion will see us adding further scheduled services to our portfolio and the roll out of a new distribution service across the whole of Russia this year.

“Yorkshire Bank’s West Yorkshire Business and Private Banking Centre has been very supportive and helpful in backing this latest expansion.”

Rehead International, which was founded in Bradford in 1978, supports a range of manufacturers, importers and distributers, throughout the UK and overseas.

The company, which has a £31million turnover, has strong links with Palletforce and other pallet networks across Europe, and has other depots in Glasgow, Belfast, Burton-upon-Trent, Dublin, Basildon and Bristol. Redhead International employs 200 staff and handles more than 19,000 consignments a month. The business operates scheduled services throughout Europe, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, the CIS, Russia and North Africa, with many services operating daily.

Andy Cook, commercial banking manager at Yorkshire Bank, said: “Redhead International has grown to become a European leader in its field through constant innovation, financial prudence and a high-quality service. Yorkshire Bank is pleased to support the company’s latest depot network expansion.”

Yorkshire Bank has introduced a series of measures designed to help growing businesses – a £1billion “Business Expansion Fund” switching package to assist businesses transferring their banking facilities to it.

The “Growing Business” package of measures will provide new and additional support for businesses looking to start up, expand or switch their banking arrangements.  The range of initiatives underlines Yorkshire Banks’ commitment to help UK businesses grow under the Funding for Lending scheme.