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Simarco's worth it
Page 14
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CM meets Simarco MD Simon Reed, and finds out why a career in hairdressing did not cut it for him and why he opted for logistics instead
Words: Joanna Bourke
WITHAM, ESSEX-BASED operator Simarco is about to open its fifth UK site and is experiencing steady growth in turnover, but the business may have not even existed if MD Simon Reed had chosen hairdressing over freight.
Although his father was a lecturer in logistics, when it was time to get a job Reed was faced with contrasting options: hairdressing or working for freight forwarder Atlas Bow International.
"At that age you want to earn money and prove yourself, so I did look at both options," says Reed. Thankfully for road transport, he chose the latter, and has not looked back since.
Reed spent his 20s learning all aspects of the freight forwarding sector and European work, but also picking up tips on the UK general haulage market. He soon concluded that there was room to offer customers a package of services under one umbrella, including domestic, European and pallet services, so in the early 1990s he set up his own firm.
Partnership
"At 30 I decided I wanted to work for myself and have more control over the business model, so I set myself up in a small Essex office above a Chinese takeaway store and partnered with my friend Martin Mattey. We combined our names to create one for our new business, Simarco."
The duo started contracting owner
Witham warehouse, expanding this to include the whole site in 2003.
"Business was really booming, we had a partnership with UK Pallets that was being well-received, and we had also purchased a number of our own trucks so we could offer customers even more. The one thing we felt was holding us back slightly was that we didn't have a physical presence outside the South.
"I wanted us to keep winning new contracts, and was confident this could be achieved by opening a new site where customers would be more keen to work with a local firm," says Reed.
In 2004 Simarco opened a small facility in Chorton, Manchester. The decision quickly paid off, winning Simarco several North-West contracts, and the company decided to repeat the successful business decision, opening depots in Liverpool and Wellingborough in the following two years.
After a number of buoyant years, Reed wanted to buy out Mattey and another shareholder, and in 2007 he became Simarco's sole MD. But how did