Truck and Track Autumn 2024 www.truckandtrack.com 8 BUSINESS NEWS Contract hire and fleet management company Specialist Fleet Services Ltd (SFS) has appointed Shamek Kowalczyk as its Head of Hire. A familiar face in the waste management industry, Shamek has worked in a variety of fleet management and procurement roles for over 20 years. During his time with Urbaser Ltd, he ran municipal collections for Waltham Forest. He has also operated commercial waste collections for private operators across London and was a supervisor at a Materials Recovery Facility. At SFS, Shamek will be focusing on developing and growing CTS Hire as a leader in municipal vehicle rental. Shamek said, “I’m really pleased to be part of SFS and CTS Hire. I have worked with both companies over the years, and I have a lot of respect for Bob and his team. They have an excellent reputation and I want to make sure that everyone knows how good they are! Shamek will be dividing his time between the CTS Hire depots in Berkeley and Brackley as well as visiting customers. Bob Sweetland, Managing Director at SFS, said, “Shamek is well known in the industry and has a great deal of knowledge and experience that we can benefit from. He is highly motivated and hard-working and a great fit for our team. SFS celebrated its 30-year anniversary in 2023 and has an extensive track record in delivering fleet and workshop management solutions to local authorities across the UK. The company runs a nationwide network of workshops and operates its own specialist vehicle hire division, CTS Hire, for the provision of short to medium term municipal vehicles. Shamek Kowalczyk Head of Hire, Specialist Fleet Services SFS appoints Head of Hire Due to the growth of Aldi and Lidl in the UK and Ireland, Culina Group business - CML - has expanded from its single site consolidation centre in Telford with a £2 Million investment in a new CML facility in Lutterworth. CML Lutterworth has created 140 jobs across warehousing, HGV driving and administration functions, and has already secured new customers for the facility, all of whom supply the discounters with chilled food and drink goods, providing excellent service levels into a very demanding retail sector. “Aldi and Lidl now jointly represent around 17.8% of the total Food and Drink Retail Market in the UK which is up from 13.6% just five years ago”, commented Culina Group Chilled Division CEO – Steve Winwood, “The new CML Chilled Consolidation Centre in Lutterworth has increased our capacity by over 40%.” CML provides a full range of Chilled Logistics Services to Food Manufacturers supplying the Food and Drink Retail Discounters in the UK and Ireland. www.culina.co.uk Culina Groups - CML - support Aldi and Lidl Market Growth with New Lutterworth Consolidation Centre Descartes Systems Group, the global leader in uniting logisticsintensive businesses in commerce, announced that it has acquired BoxTop Technologies Limited (“BoxTop”), a leading provider of shipment management solutions for small- to midsized logistics services providers (“LSPs”). Based in the UK, BoxTop helps LSPs digitize their operations and connect to the wider logistics community to manage the lifecycle of shipments. LSPs use the BoxTop platform to manage the secure and efficient movement of goods from quoting through to routing, booking, and final delivery. BoxTop is an existing Descartes partner, leveraging the Descartes Global Logistics Network (“GLN”) to help their clients gain visibility into shipments across multiple modes of transportation and to complete electronic customs filings. “We’ve been working successfully with BoxTop for a number of years, and this was the next logical step in our partnership,” said Scott Sangster, General Manager Logistics Services Providers at Descartes. “BoxTop has an excellent solution for small- to mid-sized LSPs and we see an opportunity to integrate it with more solutions on the GLN. This will help us deliver more value to BoxTop customers and expand the geographic footprint into more countries in Europe.” “LSPs will continue to play a vital role in trade in the global economy,” said Edward J. Ryan, Descartes’ CEO. “As LSPs continue to digitize their operations, we want to make sure that small- to mid-size LSPs have access to the same breadth of solutions to manage the lifecycle of shipments in a secure and efficient manner. The acquisition of BoxTop puts us in a better position to deliver even more value to this community. We’re excited to welcome the BoxTop employees, customers and partners into the Descartes family.” BoxTop is headquartered in Windsor, England. Descartes acquired BoxTop for approximately £10.25 million ($US 13 million), satisfied from cash on hand. www.descartes.com Descartes Acquires BoxTop Technologies Strengthens Shipment Management Capabilities for Logistics Services Providers
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