A group of UK haulage, warehousing and e-fulfilment companies, built from family-owned firms across England, offering pallet networks, warehousing, packing and returns.
Kinaxia Logistics is a group of UK logistics businesses. It offers road haulage, pallet distribution, warehousing, packing, e-fulfilment, returns management and storage, and some of its companies handle freight forwarding and temperature-controlled transport. A January 2020 trade article said the group had about two million square feet of warehouse space, 1,800 staff and 920 vehicles, which is a large operation for a company grown mainly by buying others. Those figures are older and may have changed.
The group was founded by Graham Norfolk and Peter Fields and grew quickly by acquisition, with 13 acquisitions in the UK since 2012, the latest in May 2019, according to that article. Its strategy is to buy 'successful, professionally operated, service-focused, family-owned companies', in the words of Mr Fields. It created a group chief executive role in 2020 and appointed Simon Hobbs, who had worked at Kuehne + Nagel and CEVA Logistics. He described the group's approach as a 'family of families', combining local ownership and know-how with national capability.
In the UK, Kinaxia's companies are spread across England. A 2018 article said its eleventh acquisition, Fresh Freight Group, in Gateshead, was its first company in the North East, adding to the North West, Midlands, South, South East and East Anglia. Other named acquisitions include AKW Global in Manchester (2018) and David Hathaway Transport in Bristol (May 2019). Fresh Freight itself began when Eamon Quigley started importing flowers from Holland and grew under Dominic Quigley into temperature-controlled transport, general haulage, pallet networks, warehousing and freight forwarding, with about 135 staff and 75 vehicles at the time. Kinaxia keeps its acquired companies in their original pallet networks.
On culture, the main thing the sources show is that each company in the group keeps its local identity, owners and customers. The 'family of families' idea suggests a mix of local managers and central support. We did not find a values page, staff stories or any newer description of life inside the group. If you meet Kinaxia people at an event, ask how much each business still runs itself.
A logistics group of this size employs a wide range of people: drivers and transport planners, warehouse operatives and supervisors, forklift and reach truck operators, customer service teams, fleet engineers, finance and sales staff, and managers who run depots. Newer areas such as e-fulfilment add people who work with online sellers and the software that links to them. If you like practical, fast-paced work with real responsibility, these jobs are found in towns and cities across the country. The group's own website is the place to check for current roles.
Website: www.kinaxia.co.uk
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