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Turnover rises by £5m at Gregory as profits fall
Page 18
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It has been a strong year for Gregory Distribution but the chief executive warns that "margins are continuing to tighten". David Harris reports.
DEVON TRANSPORT group Gregory Distribution boosted its turnover by £5m to more than £75m in 2005, according to figures released last week.
Despite the increase in turnover in the year to 30 September 2005, the company saw pre-tax profits fall from £3,4m in 2004 to just over Om last year. However, chief executive John Gregory says that in "both the last two years profit has been substantially boosted by property transactions".
Once the land sales are stripped out of the figures, the underlying profit on turnover is about 3% to 3.5%.
"When margins are as finite as this and you have to invest as much as we do just to keep going, it does make you question what you invest," he says. The company's profit on turnover is still higher than many others in the industry. although Gregory says that -margins are continuing to tighten".
"We shall continue to try to increase profit by taking a practical approach to all our customers," he says.
Gregory is a third-generation company. It started out with a horse and cart hauling coal and now includes Milklink. Tesco, Kellogg's and Coca-Cola among its customers. The firm employs more than 1,000 and operates 400 vehicles.