Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, UK: Nichirei Logistics Group has completed the acquisition of UK temperature-controlled logistics company Norish.
Under the terms of the deal, Tokyo-based Nichirei has bought Norish (NI) along with Norish, based in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.
Nichirei said: “With this acquisition, Nichirei Logistics Group can realise a full-scale entry into the cold store logistics business in the UK, and at the same time, aim to further expand its business by creating group synergies. Nichirei Logistics Group is already active in the UK through its European subsidiaries Thermotraffic UK and Kevin Hancock.”
Norish cold storage is a third-party temperature-controlled storage and logistics provider. All sites offer storage (including bonded), handling, de-vanning, picking and packing, cross-docking, and distribution with freezing and other
temperature-controlled services available from the coldstores.
Rob Haesakkers, managing director of Thermotraffic and the new chief executive of Norish, said: “We are convinced that the combination of Norish, Kevin Hancock and Thermotraffic UK will enable us to offer a one-stop solution to our customers. Besides, we share the same values where people, quality, a can-do mentality, and business partnerships are key. There are great synergy effects, which will boost all our businesses but most importantly, will give our customers that single point of personal contact together with a high-quality and customer focus level. It is clear for us that by joining our forces we will be the preferred partner for the food industry.”
“This acquisition will allow all customers but also the wider market, the opportunity to benefit not only from Thermotraffic freight forwarding, import–export (customs) clearing-and supply chain optimisation experience but also from Kevin Hancock with its extended knowledge on blast-freezing, tempering, and microwaving,” said Haesakkers,
“Essentially any customer will now be able to take product from anywhere in the world through to storage and final delivery in the UK but also the EU continent, using only one company for their entire supply chain,” Haesakkers added.
As part of the changes, Kevin Hancock has been appointed chief operating officer (COO).
