Elite links up with new logistics partner

One of the UK’s leading manufacturers of precast concrete has teamed up with a new logistics provider. Elite Precast Concrete will work in partnership with flatbed haulage specialists Shropshire Express Deliveries to ensure its nationwide delivery operation runs like clockwork. The exclusive relationship will create a transport solution tailor-made for the precast concrete industry and underline Elite’s ethos of providing the highest levels of customer service. Owen Batham, Sales and Marketing Director of Elite Precast, said: “Our logistics operation is very important to us, so it was vital to find the right partners. “We wanted to build a long-term relationship with a company we can fully rely on and, in Shropshire Express Deliveries, I’m confident we’ve found just that. “They’ll provide a really cost-effective service carried out by experienced drivers in the highest standard of delivery vehicles. “But they also place great value on top-quality customer care and that’s something we’re absolutely passionate about.” Elite also works in partnership with logistics specialists Hallett Silbermann, based in Hertfordshire. The relationship enables the company to provide deliveries that are FORS Gold, Silver and Bronze compliant and that are approved for HS2, Crossrail, CLOCS and Tideway projects in London and the South East. The business, which operates from two factories in Telford, focuses on providing the best possible value within the precast industry. A uniquely lean business model enables it to drive down costs and pass savings directly on to customers. The company manufactures a vast range of semi-dry and wet-cast products for every sector of UK industry and a portfolio that includes interlocking blocks, ballast blocks, safety/security barriers, service protection and drainage products. The deal will also have significant implications for Shropshire Express Deliveries, according to owner/director Neil Bennett. The company, also based in Telford, has taken on a string of new drivers as well as office staff as a direct result of the new partnership. It has brought in five new 44-tonne tractor units, together with trailers featuring side protection, to supplement its fleet of fully Euro 6 compliant vehicles. And it has installed a state-of-the-art booking and tracking system that enables the company to pick up Elite orders automatically. He said: “The new partnership is fantastic news for the company and a big step forward for us. “It’s the biggest contract we’ve won since we launched the business six years ago and it’s a real vindication of how we operate. “We’re very much focused on quality of service and that was crucial to Elite, which insists on putting customers first.”