Second acquisition for Xpediator in a month

Xpediator, parent company of Delamode, has acquired Regional Express, the freight forwarder and international courier for £1.2m.

It’s Xpediator’s second acquisition following its flotation in August. Last month it bought Benfleet Forwarding for some £6.55m.

Regional Express, which is based at Romsey near Southampton, generated revenue of £6m, and operating profit of £249 in the year to 31st March 2017. It specialises in road, sea and air freight.

Regional’s growing business with Amazon is a key attraction for Xpediator.

Xpediator’s chief executive Stephen Blyth said: “Regional Express is an exciting profitable niche operator and one which will fit well into the Xpediator Group, adding significantly to our existing air and sea freight operations, two areas where we have been looking to expand our presence.

“We also expect there will be a number of synergistic opportunities through offering Regional’s clients the wider services of the Xpediator Group in particular in warehousing and fulfilment, plus our European Network.

“There is potential for Regional to develop the relationship further with Amazon and we believe that is enhanced by Regional becoming part of the enlarged Group,” said Blyth.

On completion the enlarged group will operate from six sites in the UK together with 11 European offices employing more than 690 people.

Regional will be led by Neil Curran, who will continue to be mentored by Eric Buggy, who co-founded the company, over the Earn Out period.

Buggy said: “As part of the Xpediator Group, we are confident of further growing our operations from leveraging their larger platform, and in particular, the award winning EshopWedrop division. Equally important was finding a partner who shares our focus on high customer service, strong customer relationships and an entrepreneurial flair; in the Xpediator team, we have found such a partner.”