Transport & storage sector companies are on a rollercoaster ride
Fewer transport & storage firms saw an increase in turnover in July than any other comparable sector, but that’s not stopped many predicting an increase in September. Transport companies are on a rollercoaster ride, says the home delivery expert Parcelhero.
New data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveals that fewer transport & storage companies saw an increase in turnover in July than any other business sector except the arts. Only 9% of transportation & storage firms (the category that includes logistics, parcels, haulage and warehousing firms) reported a rise in turnover in July, reveals the latest ONS ‘Business insights and impact on the UK economy’ survey.
The home delivery expert Parcelhero says the number of transport & storage companies enjoying an increase in turnover was significantly lower than other comparable industry sectors. For example, 19.4% of manufacturers and 20.1% of retailers reported increased turnover last month. Transport & storage’s 9% was the lowest number of firms reporting an increase of any sector except the arts’ bottom-of-the-barrel 5.2%.
Parcelhero’s head of consumer esearch, David Jinks MILT, says: ‘Overall, an average of 16% of businesses across all industry sectors revealed that their turnover had risen in July over the previous month. The number of transport & storage companies reporting turnover growth clearly lagged far behind the majority of sectors and, in particular, their manufacturing and retail partners.
‘However, this may only be a temporary dip. Countering July’s results, transport & storage companies are bullish about their revenue prospects for September. An impressive 20.4% of transport & storage firms expect to see an increase in their turnover next month, beating all other sectors except education and health/social work.
‘Interestingly, this result reveals transport & storage firms are notably more optimistic about next month than their manufacturing and retail partners. 18% of retailers and just 13.1% of manufacturers expect their turnovers to increase in September.
‘In fact, the more we dig into the latest survey’s results, the more positive the picture becomes for the transport & storage sector. Jumping back to July, the number of transport & storage companies reporting a decrease in turnover was 27.3%, only slightly worse than the average for all sectors of 24%. Interestingly, this was a better result than those of their manufacturing and retail partners. In all, 31% of manufacturers and 32.9% of retailers recorded a decrease in turnover.
‘Looking forward to September, it’s a similar picture. Only 10% of transport & storage companies expect to see a decrease in turnover, compared to 15.2% of retailers and a rather worrying 18.6% of manufacturers.
‘Finally, to complete the rollercoaster ride, there’s now another major concern for larger transport & storage companies. It’s currently a very aggressive market and, compared to any other sector, more transport & storage firms that employ 10 or more people say that competition is currently impacting their business. 33.2% of transport & storage companies said competition is impacting their turnover as opposed to, for example, 30.3% of retailers and just 23.5% of manufacturers employing 10 people or more.
‘One certainty is that it will be those transport & storage companies that are partnered with retailers with strong in-store and online sales that will ultimately triumph. Parcelhero’s influential report “2030: Death of the High Street” has been discussed in Parliament. It reveals that retailers must develop an omnichannel approach, embracing both online and physical store sales. Read the full report at: https://www.parcelhero.com/content/downloads/pdfs/high-street/deathofthehighstreetreport.pdf