One of the UK’s fastest growing logistics operators, Europa Worldwide Group, has opened its first brand-new sales branch in Wales. It is located in the Pontprennau area of Cardiff, at the Regus Cardiff Gate Business House.
At the start of the year, Europa Worldwide Group announced it was investing half a million pounds in increasing its UK European road freight sales network at its Europa Roaddivision. This provides road freight services for import and export to and from Europe.
In its 50 plus year history, the business has never had a presence in Wales. It chose Cardiff after a substantial amount of research into suitable locations to expand into. There are currently no other Europa Road sites in Wales, with the closest one being over the border in Bristol, making it an area of immense growth potential.
In 2020, the European road freight market was valued at 324.5 billion euros, which is expected to continue growing. At the end of 2021, the road freight market will have seen an overall increase of 27.5 percent compared to 2010, despite the challenges of the global pandemic.
In the face of this crisis, Wales has shown huge economic resilience. Office for National Statistics figures show that 3,000 more businesses registered there in 2021 than in 2019. This indicates it is an entrepreneurial destination, ripe for investment and sustained commercial growth, and is the perfect location for Europa to expand into.
In addition, the recent UK Government autumn budget allocation of the largest ever financial settlement of £18 billion per year to the Welsh Devolved Administration, illustrates there is confidence in the region’s ability to further boost its economic prospects. Many firms in Wales have already adapted to changing market conditions by seeking out new opportunities, something Europa Road is also keen to achieve through an increasingly localised footprint.
As well as being a place where new business innovation thrives, the Welsh Government also views the manufacturing sector as the lifeblood of its economy, since it is more important there in terms of Gross Value Added (GVA) than in any other UK region.
The significant numbers of manufacturers located in Wales was an additional factor in Europa Road’s decision to locate in Cardiff, as was the area’s robust export performance. The value of goods exported for the year ending 2019 reached £17.7 billion, a 34 percent increase since 2015, with forecasts predicting a continued upward growth trajectory.
Europa Road opens in Cardiff with a team of five, and is headed up by Branch Manager, Chelsea Bartlett. She joins the Group with over seven years of account management expertise, built up in roles across the parcel delivery industry for a range of household brand names including DHL, UK Mail and TNT.
Chelsea commented: “This is a super opportunity to help shape and grow the Europa Road team in Cardiff, which we aim to increase to ten staff members by the end of the year. I’m thrilled to have been appointed to lead the Welsh branch of the business in this new regional chapter and look forward to securing a new and growing customer base in the coming months.”
The Europa Road division provides market leading European road freight services, operating the UK’s largest European groupage hub which is situated in Dartford. Its network of 16 UK branches trunk into Dartford, from where freight connects with daily, direct services to 30 continental hubs.
Adrian Redmile, Europa Road’s Branch Network and Sales Director, commented: “We’d like to welcome Chelsea and the rest of the team to the Europa family. Our strategy is to deliver excellent customer service through local teams, putting our services at the heart of the region we are supporting. Having a fantastic local team in Cardiff means we will be able to support Cardiff’s growing supply chain needs with import and export – specifically on our pan European daily services.”
