Wincanton's French connection
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• More work could be heading Wincanton Distribution Services' way if a new agreement currently being negotiated with its French working partner Transports Frigorifiques Europeens (TFE), becomes a reality.
TFE is aiming to become one of Europe's top three distributors of fresh food through its own activities in France and by linking up with other road transport partners in Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Spain and Britain.
TFE has 1,700 trucks and 400,000e of refrigerated space in France, and hauls around 1.88 million tonnes of food a year.
In the UK, TFE works closely with Wincanton Chilled Distribution, with some 10 TFE trucks bringing fresh produce from France each week into Wincanton's Brentford depot, returning with British produce. Wincanton distributes the French produce from Bedford, and collects British produce for TFE. The arrangement, which has been running for one year, has so far been worth around £3.25 million to Wincanton.
Recently TFE increased its international activities following an agreement with Getman reefer operators Krastverkehr Nagel, and it is currently negotiating with a Spanish operator to increase its network in Spain.
Wincanton Chilled Distribution managing director Peter Brown says that British food manufacturers are not recognising the full potential of the European food market, and TFE's German agreement, and the forthcoming Spanish deal, should bring more work to Wincanton. "Linking into TFE we have the ability to link into their other companies," says Brown. • Hestair, which manufacturers Dennis specialised commercial vehicles and Duple PSVs, is predicting record profits this year. Chairman David Hargreaves says the company's business is well ahead in the first four months of the company's financial year. In the twelve months to January Hestair recorded a pre-tax profit of 27.3 million.