A Lincolnshire haulage firm established by a husband-and-wife team just months before the Covid-19 pandemic struck is celebrating five years in business and a huge surge in growth.
Skegness-based Hooper Haulage Ltd was set up by Sam and Daniella Hooper in late 2019 and has overcome the challenges of multiple lockdowns to quadruple its volumes over the last 24 months.
The ambitious firm has thrived in the midst of a challenging operating environment, which has seen a vast increase in insolvencies in the haulage industry.
It has grown from running a single long-wheelbase van to a fleet of 15 vehicles and a team of 23 staff, operating four warehouses with 55,000 sq. ft of storage space.
Next up are plans to create a 12,000 sq. ft mini hub to expand capacity, with a further pair of new trailers set to join the fleet at the end of the year.
Sam and Daniella, both 32, live just half a mile from the company’s headquarters on the Burgh Road Trading Estate and put its success down to the quality service it provides – a reputation amplified by its shareholder membership of the Wolverhampton-based Pallet-Track network.
Sam said: “When we started with Pallet-Track in 2022, we were moving around 30 to 40 pallets a night. This has grown to the region of 150 to 200 a night and has also enabled us to put our own vehicles out on the road on groupage work.
“Being in Pallet-Track has been phenomenal for us. It’s done us the world of good.”
As it grows, the company is continuing to immerse itself in the local community, sponsoring Skegness Carnival and three junior football teams at Swifts JFC.
It works with the Skegness branch of the Royal British Legion and proudly sports an Avro Lancaster livery on one of its vehicles in honour of Sam’s grandfather Frederick, who served in the RAF on Lancasters in the Second World War.
It also sponsors renowned motorsport outfit E3 Sport, which races in the Ginetta championships and is run by the Edwards family of racing drivers – Jim Snr, his son Jim Jnr and granddaughters Chloe and Jade – the latter a well-known British Touring Car Championship driver and pundit.
“Being part of the community is hugely important to us as a company – they’ve supported us and we want to pay that back in any way we can,” added Sam.
Stuart Godman, CEO of Pallet-Track, said: “Sam, Danielle and the whole team at Hooper Haulage are a credit to themselves. They started their company at an incredibly challenging time but have thrived in business and as part of our network.
“Service is as important to them as it is to us, so we’re a perfect partnership. They are a fantastic shareholder member and we look forward to growing our relationship even further over the coming years.”
Pallet-Track has a shareholder member network of more than 90 distribution specialists, which transport more than 3.9m pallets per year.
For more information about Pallet-Track, call 0870 385 0055 or visit www.pallet-track.co.uk.
For more information about Hooper Haulage, visit www.hooperhaulageltd.com.