Peterborough, UK: John Davidson, managing director of JS Davidson, the new name for Chiltern Cold Storage, is predicting turnover growth to continue.
Turnover this year rose to £10 million – doubling that of its mid-pandemic figures of £5 million, posted just two years ago.
“The level of growth JS Davidson has achieved in such a short period is a true testament to the resilience and persistence of the business, especially given the challenges faced,” Davidson said.
“The pandemic, ever-rising energy costs and increased inflation were roadblocks that came to a head in a relatively short period of time, however committing to our culture, ethos and our comprehensive roadmap allowed us to push through stronger than we were before.
“Equally, remaining adaptable and listening to the needs of customers both existing and new, along with streamlining our operation through investing into key areas and taking stock of where we were as a business, also played a significant factor in our success.”
“The move to JS Davidson comes at both an exciting and fitting time for the company. We ultimately just felt it was the natural next step, especially after the growth achieved in recent years, and would act very much as a springboard to reinforce our leading position in the marketplace.
“Indeed, with a background which has predominantly focused on cold storage, the company has since evolved, and our offering today is considerably more far reaching. Our range of services now portrays our true offering, which is essentially a supply chain solutions provider and a one-stop solution for customers both existing and new,” Davidson said.
The pandemic acted as an opportunity to take stock of his business and look at ways to streamline its operations in the pursuit of greater productivity and efficiency for the benefit of its customers, Davidson said.
The company’s temperature-controlled busness was geared to the airline industry with a partnership with the UK’s largest airline caterer. This business collapsed with air travel reduced by 97% at the peak of the pandemic.
However, when one door closes, another opens. With a higher demand for food as the nation was forced to eat predominantly in the home, food retailers and manufacturers experienced an unprecedented boom.
£10.8bn of grocery sales made in the first few weeks of the pandemic perhaps provides a glimpse into this unprecedented spike, and the subsequent level of demand placed upon the shoulders of the temperature-controlled operators such as JS Davidson during this period.
Re-evaluating the business and its operations also brought about transformative change to JS Davidson. With the help of expert financial consultants recruited during the pandemic, the business streamlined with investement in areas that would cultivate further growth.
As a result of this major re-alignment, Davidson was able to invest nearly £1m to gear up for growth and to enhance the offering to customers.
This assessment provided the roadmap future growth, seeing it as a ‘new chapter’ in the company’s history. In line with this, Davidson and his team renamed the company from Chiltern Cold Storage to JS Davidson.
The name change reflects this new chapter, as well as its growing status within its marketplace as a one-stop shop provider of distribution, ambient, chilled and frozen storage and supply chain solution services.
