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No-deal Brexit might bring not only short-term chaos, but also great opportunities and Girteka Logistics, Europe’s leading logistics company, is ready to exploit them. Lithuanian company reveals its plan to expand into the UK market aggressively.
“We see Brexit as an enormous opportunity. We are very hungry to enter the UK market. The only reason we are not investing more is the uncertainty. It doesn’t matter what the outcome of Brexit situation will be; the UK will still be an attractive market for us,” Kristian Kaas Mortensen, head of strategic partnerships at Girteka, told the Financial Times.
Differently than most competitors, Girteka Logistics owns all its trucks. On average EU logistics companies own seven trucks, whereas Girteka Logistics has almost 7,000 around Europe and aims for 10,000 by 2021. The company has already moved its base from Baltics into Germany, and currently observes the situation in the UK.
According to Mr Mortensen, geopolitical changes bring challenges to asset-based truck owners. He agrees that some difficulties might arise around ports such as Dover but they wouldn’t last very long, otherwise the country would face shortages of various goods and products. Once these are cleared, the company is ready to invest in additional capacity both to and from the UK as well as for domestic UK transportation.
“It’s like Bambi caught in the headlights in front of the car. Bambi has been in front of the car for quite a while. This is the time for us to rock and roll,” Mr Mortensen said.
He adds that UK border crossings after Brexit will be similar to other EU-area borders, so this will not be an issue.
Girteka Logistics’ sales revenue grew by 37% last year, equating to EUR 764 million, net profit for the period was EUR 19 million. 4,000 new staff joined the company last year, currently it has 15,000 employees. Girteka is focusing on logistics into Russia, Nordic countries and the rest of Europe.
You may read the full Financial Times article here: Financial Times
