The Nottingham branch of Europa Road has marked its eighth birthday with the announcement that it is boosting its team – creating a brand-new dedicated Customer Service Team to provide an even more focused approach to meeting client needs.
Europa Road, the European road freight operator, is seeing a continued increase in consignments post Brexit. The brief of the new, 12 strong team is to assist the Nottingham branch’s growing portfolio of East Midlands customers through an enhanced structure which will enable exceptional customer service to be delivered.
The sustained growth across Europa Road – a division of ambitious, global logistics operator Europa Worldwide Group – comes as the business recently announced it had hit the £300m turnover target.
Nottingham has played a pivotal role in Europa Road’s ongoing success since it first opened in 2014, having built up its customer base to 450 accounts and quadrupling its team in the process. The branch – operating out of 7A Colwick Quays Business Park – looks after firms operating across a broad range of sectors, including health, beauty, and automotive.
With the Institute of Customer Service reporting that skills shortages and cost saving measures are dragging standards down, there has never been a better time for Europa Road’s continued investment in maintaining high levels of customer service.
Adrian Redmile, Branch and Sales Director at Europa Worldwide Group, explained: “For us, the business case is clear. We recognise that good customer service drives commercial growth, because it raises sales, boosts engagement, and creates loyalty. That’s why we’ve taken the strategic decision to boost the branch with a specific and renewed focus on customer care.”
“Nottingham is one of our first branches to have enhanced its customer support team, which will work closely alongside the sales team. Other branches will follow suit, initially across our bigger and more established branches and eventually across all our network locations.
“The approach will really cement our commitment to delivering locally for our customers – through a flexible and streamlined service on their doorstep – which helps them maintain local supply chain resilience.”
In Nottingham, Branch Manager Sam Morgan remains at the forefront of the drive to secure new business. He is responsible for sales and the continued growth of the branch as part of a four-strong team, which has ambitious customer acquisition targets across the whole of the East Midlands region.
Working alongside Sam is Naomi Brown, who steps into the newly created position of Customer Services Branch Manager. Previously, she was a Road Account Manager at the Colwick site. Naomi will coordinate the customer services team, ensuring each account runs smoothly and client expectations are exceeded.
She reports to Mat Jobson, newly appointed Europa Road Regional Manager, whose remit is to look after customer relations activities across the branch network. Mat works alongside three other sales-focused Regional Managers covering the North, Central and South of the UK. All sit under Adrian Redmile, who oversees the strategic growth and performance of the Europa Road division at Group board level.
Speaking about her promotion, Naomi said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for me personally but also for the Nottingham branch, which continues to play its part in the plans for Europa to become bigger, bolder, and better. I am passionate about customer service and about going the extra mile to impress, because our goal is to never disappoint.
“A key priority for our clients is to have a named contact who knows their account and is able to respond to a query in the most effective way. Providing this tailored and personalised service is especially important to us and is something that sets us apart from our competitors.”
One of the key priorities for Nottingham going forwards is to secure an even greater proportion of business through Europa Flow, the specialist delivery duty paid (DDP) service launched by the Group in response to Brexit. Flow offers the ability to move goods seamlessly across Europe through up-front, anticipated goods declarations which reduces costs, paperwork, and border delays.
Sam Morgan commented: “We’re extremely excited that our eighth birthday marks the springboard for further growth. Across the 16-strong branch network, Europa Road’s ambition is to double the number of Road Account Managers to 120 by the end of 2022. For Nottingham, this means our sales team will increase from four to eight, allowing us more time to visit prospects and accelerate our expansion plans.
“We are also seeking to transfer of some of our larger customers across to Flow. The feedback from those who have already made the switch has been incredibly positive, so we want more customers to reap the benefits, particularly at a time when cost and efficiency savings are key.”
Leicester-based ITW ShineMark Foil & Thermal Films signed up to Europa Flow last year through the Nottingham team, and has been delighted with the outcomes. Debbie Wade, Manager, explained: “The main priority was to deliver against our customer promise which was for there to be no change to deliveries now compared to pre-Brexit. Europa moved quickly and allowed us to keep that promise.”
An additional three Europa Road branches, in new geographical locations, have opened already this year as part of the expansion of the firm’s UK footprint and into new markets, bringing the network total to 16.
Europa Road is one of three divisions in Europa Worldwide Group, sitting alongside Air & Sea and Warehouse. The business has featured in The Sunday Times Profit Track 100 2021, which ranks Britain’s 100 private companies with the fastest-growing profits (over their latest three years). The company employs over 1,300 staff with sites in the UK, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Dubai, and Belgium.
