Southampton based global logistics firm Peters & May supplies freight and logistics services by road, air, sea, and courier to the recreational and commercial marine sector. As another unprecedented year concludes, the company’s CEO Simon Judson, reflects on 2021 and looks ahead at the outlook for the coming year across the Group’s freight, courier and yacht and commercial vessel transportation divisions.
“For recreational yacht and commercial vessel transportation division, 2021 was a year complicated by the backlog of shipments caused by lockdown restrictions. Global business held steady despite the challenges, and we anticipate an increase in demand in the year ahead as recreational yacht owners slowly return to pre-pandemic levels of cruising and racing.”
The company plans to increase the number of sailings on the Oslo-Trade between the USA East Coast and the Caribbean. The start of 2022 has already gone well with two full sailings in January; one from Northern Europe via the Med to the Far East and another from the Med to the USA and the Caribbean.
Simon continues, “Routes from the Med back to Northern Europe remained popular in 2021 and we expect this to continue into 2022 with clients wanting yachts closer to home to explore cruising grounds in the North and Baltic Seas. Now that the world is gradually opening up again our customers want to explore new sailing areas, so we are looking to set up new routes and port calls. There are also clear indications that major racing events and owners’ rallies are back on the calendar.”
The company anticipates an increased demand for the well-established routes between USA East Coast and Caribbean ports as customers seek new waters to discover. In response to this demand there are plans to add new port calls on existing trades as well as increase the number of regular sailings.
More good news for trade between the US and the EU occurred with the scrapping on Jan 1st2022 of the US luxury goods tariff of 25% levied on vessels imported from the US into the EU. The immediate result has been an initial increase in the demand for shipments of second-hand boats between the two countries. In the longer term, more permanent movement of new boats is likely and Peters & May’s offices across Europe are well equipped to arrange the shipping and assist with the complex paperwork relating to import clearance formalities.
The yacht and commercial vessel transport business is supplemented by Peters & May’s specialist Freight Forwarding and courier business which services the marine supply chain moving equipment, commodities and component parts.
Simon continues, “We have seen good growth in freight forwarding and courier businesses, both of which have returned strong performances in 2021 despite the challenges of the worldwide pandemic restrictions and resultant disruptions to global supply chains. Further with an in-house Customs & VAT Manager the company has been able support our clients in navigating the implications of Brexit.
The company’s domestic and international courier service is delivered through Peters & May Group company, Corporate Express Couriers (CEC).
“CEC’s fleet handles hundreds of daily collections and our effective and simple to use online booking and tracking system ensures customers can always keep track and feel confident about their shipments. It is this expertise and CEC’s local customer service team, that sets it apart from its competitors and we anticipate that this will continue to be a strong and emerging area of our Group’s activity,” Simon believes.
