Key points:
- northstarr Group has acquired United Pallet Network (UK) Ltd.
- UPN and Pallet-Track will together handle more than 6.3 million pallets a year.
- Both networks will keep their own brands and membership models.
- UPN has more than 100 member hauliers and a 300,000 sq ft hub near Lichfield.
- The financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed.
What has been bought
According to northstarr, the group has added UPN to a portfolio that already includes:
- Pallet-Track, a national pallet network,
- Truckcom, a cloud-based transport management system,
- Sqrrl Solutions, a flexible warehousing business,
- X2, a 4PL road transport company.
UPN was founded in 2001 by Martyn Chapman. It has more than 100 members across the UK, operates a 300,000 sq ft SmartHUB near Lichfield in Staffordshire and has its head office in Leicester.
northstarr opened a new head office and a 405,000 sq ft central hub at Waterway Business Park in Wolverhampton earlier this year. The price of the UPN deal has not been published.
Two networks, one owner
The key point for hauliers is that the two networks will not be merged. UPN and Pallet-Track will continue to operate as standalone networks, each with its own identity and membership model.
Stuart Godman, Group CEO of northstarr, said that “in a challenging economic climate, and with the pallet network landscape changing, size and scale matters”. He added that UPN and Pallet-Track “will continue to run as independent networks, each retaining its own identity”.
Dave Brown, managing director of UPN, said that joining northstarr gives the network “the backing and the broader set of services to help our members grow their own businesses”, while keeping the UPN brand and service.
According to northstarr, the acquisition follows a strong year of trading and earlier announcements of multi-million-pound growth for the group, which describes itself as an asset-light, technology-led logistics business.
What it means for member hauliers
Pallet networks are built on independent hauliers, who collect and deliver pallets in their own areas and trunk freight to a central hub overnight. For UPN’s members, the takeover brings a larger owner with its own technology and warehousing businesses. In practice, members can expect access to more services, such as transport management software, while day-to-day operations through the Lichfield hub stay under the UPN brand.
The bigger question is what consolidation means for the market. With one group behind two national networks handling over 6.3 million pallets a year, competition for members and customers among the remaining networks is likely to intensify. Earlier this year, Pall-Ex signed a 20-year deal to keep its Italian network on board, while new EU packaging rules are putting pallets under stricter reuse rules.
