50 Years of Peters & May: The global shipping company celebrates its 50th anniversary

Peters & May celebrates its 50th anniversary © Peters & May

Leading global logistics company Peters & May announces its milestone 50th anniversary in 2023, proudly commemorating its history and achievements while celebrating the company's strong position as a trusted name in today's market.

Following one of its most successful years to date in 2022, Peters & May enters the landmark year by reporting strong optimism that the company has the experience, structure, and personnel in place to meet future market challenges and maintain continued growth.

Positive results for the global logistics specialist include shipment of over one billion US Dollars of cargo value in 2022, with an increase in shipments across all of the lines of business Peters & May manage: racing, leisure and commercial marine business, general freight forwarding and courier services (CEC). With an expanding team of staff and agents, the company has invested further in its recruitment process to support and ensure service is not compromised despite the challenges of recent years caused by Brexit, Covid-19 and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. 2022 ended the year up 47% year on year for sales.

Peters & May plans to mark its 50th year in logistics by bringing together its global team of 100 for the first time at its Southampton, UK, headquarters, to pay tribute to the years of dedication and innovation which have helped build and transform the company.

CEO Simon Judson said: "We are incredibly proud of our heritage and delighted to celebrate this milestone by highlighting the story behind the company's transformation into the trusted, reliable and experienced set up of today. Our staff and teams have faced many challenges in these years, but, with commitment, passion for what we do, team spirit, and friendship and trust amongst colleagues, we have overcome some difficult past years. In such a forever evolving industry it is important for us to change with the times and keep our dynamic approach. From the corners of each division, our team works diligently and with transparency across all regional offices. It is the result of their hard work that is testament to the success of our company today.

"We are all really looking forward to coming together this summer to celebrate with our valued team."

Since it was first established in Reading, UK in 1973 as a freight forwarding company, Peters & May has evolved to become one of the most trusted international logistics service providers of today, consistent in delivering an industry leading and unrivalled service to its clients with a £60m turnover.

The global shipping company, which provides employment to 100 people globally across ten dedicated offices world-wide, has an average employment tenure of ten years.

Peters & May is also renowned for several innovations, including the flat-rail patent, while continually improving and designing new boat transport cradles.

Five decades has brought its fair share of tests for Peters & May, with many market pressures still ongoing. In the last two decades alone, the company has survived the recession between 2007 and 2009, a crisis which began inside the United States and rapidly spread across to Europe, the implementation of US import tariffs in 2018 which then led to a 'trade war' in effect between the US and its trading partners. The 2016 Brexit vote and the UK's exit from the European Union in 2020 followed, with the Covid-19 pandemic throwing the world into turmoil in the same year.

Simon Judson added: "Despite very difficult circumstances, Peters & May has overcome the challenges in a positive 2022 which we are confident can be built upon. We adapted to deal effectively with Covid-19 precipitated global lockdowns, port congestion, fuel and transport price increases, vessel quarantining, and labour and cargo shortages, not forgetting the inevitable backlog once said restrictions were lifted.

"Even more recently, Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the consequential sanctions imposed has dramatically affected the industry; with port closures, vessel seizures, further global price rises and a lack of ship and container availability worldwide, meaning ports really are stretched."

With the growth of the team and expansion of the company, Peters & May, in the past, has established a synonymous presence with many prestigious events, including the Whitbread Round the World Race and The America's Cup for which it provided yacht racing solutions. This cemented its position in the marine industry in the 1980s and established the company's need for strategically placed agents in the Caribbean, North America, and South Africa.

In the 1990s, Peters & May relocated its headquarters to Southampton, and in subsequent years it has established overseas offices in France, Spain, Fort Lauderdale, Palma, Hamburg, Genoa, Dubai, Netherlands and Singapore.

A three-day schedule of activities has been planned for Peters & May; interactive workshops, meetings, and an evening function will culminate the 50thanniversary celebration at the Grand Harbour Hotel in Southampton.