ISD signs distribution contract with Dutch door firm

The P & M Group Limited, trading as ISD Solutions, has signed a distribution contract with Dutch high performance door manufacturer Salco BV.

The Gloucester-based specialist in cold store construction has experienced significant growth due to Brexit and the pandemic. It now recognises an opportunity to further expand into the growing international market for high-bay, temperature controlled warehouses.

Driven by the UK’s exit from the EU and growth in online food retail, the current investment value in high-bay warehousing in the UK is worth around £500 million per annum and this figure is likely to double by 2022.

Now the two companies, which have worked together on projects in the UK and Australia, have signed a deal for supply and installation as well as ongoing service and maintenance.

This will see a nationwide team of 20 service engineers providing the first specialist maintenance national network of these high value assets, hundreds of which are in operation around the UK.

Tony Wall, managing director of The P & M Group, said: “The huge upsurge in demand for fully automated high bay freezer warehouses has been driven by Brexit and growth in online food retail due to the pandemic.

“A combination of harder border control and the demands of Covid-19 has changed the face of the food retail industry, fast-forwarding growth in the warehousing sector. We think this trend is going to continue.

“We’ve worked with Salco on various projects before – they’re a similar size of business to us and they wanted a financially stable, experienced distributor, based in the UK to work with on existing and ongoing projects both here and abroad.

“Our infrastructure and network of trained operatives gives us, and them, great confidence in our ability to provide customers with the full range of cold store services, from planning to installation and maintenance.”

With the current economic climate, and more technological advances being introduced to the UK cold chain, automated high-bay warehouses are on the rise in the retail market.

Reduced oxygen levels help reduce fire risk and also reduce energy requirements. These advanced projects require specialist doors which can be integrated in the automated system and perform in various temperatures above and below freezing.

Salco BV produces a wide range of doors for the industrial, agricultural and refrigeration sectors with a special access solution for modern automated high-bay warehouses.

ISD Solutions, the UK’s leading specialist in composite panel technology for temperature controlled buildings, was first introduced to Salco in 2007 before the construction of such a warehouse in Gloucester for Unilever.

Mr Wall visited the Salco B.V factory in the town of Zwaagdijk-Oost, to gain a deeper understanding of the specialist doors before starting management of the project.

The relationship developed further a year later, on a project for Partner Logistics in Wisbech in Cambridgeshire. Since then, the two companies have worked on projects in the UK and Australia.

Mr Wall said: “As well as providing revenue to the company in its own right – we are forecasting £200k of turnover in year one, doubling in 2022 – this relationship will further enhance ISD’s ability to offer the complete composite solution for new developments in the UK market.

“Salco is the ideal fit for our reputation for excellence in provision of both products and services and will give our customers confidence in offering the most suitable solutions for their needs.”