Headlines and reports on this page = 2 news items.    Page - 1.

Local courier company gets ready for a cash boost

A Wirral based specialist courier company has been given a £250,000 cash boost to enhance its state of the art fleet.

PDQ, which prides itself on offering a 'white glove service' to blue chip companies, transports consignments worth more than £300 million every year, throughout the UK, Ireland and Europe.

With clients using their dedicated temperature controlled, time sensitive service to convey everything from pathology samples and pharmaceuticals, to hazardous materials, many of their packages are priceless and cannot be replaced.

Company directors Brian and Amanda Brennan have already invested £300,000, in the last 12 months into IT systems, training, vehicles and state of the art tracking technology.

Operating from their new Bromborough, Wirral, premises, in addition to its bases in Alderley Edge, High Wycombe and Cork, the business has recently been highlighted by bankers Goldman Sachs, on an exclusive list of businesses driving economic growth in the UK.

In long term plans, PDQ hopes to further expand its impressive fleet and Barclays Bank has offered the company a facility of a quarter of a million pounds for the investment programme.

Gary Fletcher, Barclays Corporate Relationship Manager said:- "This is a significant investment in a competitive market and paints a very bright future for the business. By working closely and really understanding the business, Barclays has been able to support PDQ Specialist Couriers Services financially and professionally throughout the expansion. We have a long standing relationship with the company and wish to continue to work in partnership to support their strategic growth plans."

PDQ was launched in 1998 when the directors identified a gap in the market for temperature controlled courier services.

Set up with one van, they quickly gained a reputation for a reliable, quality service.

Their expertise was soon applied to the pharmaceutical sector and clinical trial businesses and their fleet expanded accordingly.

The company now employs a skilled team of 30, with specialist drivers in a fleet of tri-temperature controlled vehicles, ranging from -25 to +30 degrees, offering refrigerated, controlled room temperature and frozen storage, thanks to sophisticated on board computers.

A high tech tracking facility enables clients to log onto PDQ's website and determine the temperature of the package and its location.

The fleet includes small vans through to 18 tonne vehicles, costing up to £120,000, and in addition to location and temperature tracking, provide everything from panic alarms and generators, to key out systems which enable refrigeration to keep running.

The dedicated drivers, are highly qualified, with specialist licences, and unlike many other courier companies, where workers are often self employed, all the PDQ staff are employed by the business, to guarantee standards.  PDQ's business development manager, Luke Devlin said:- "PDQ is bucking the industry trend by going from strength to strength. There have been a number of high profile closures of courier companies and many of the bigger ones sub-contract a lot of work to us because of our highly specialist skills. For instance, if there is a national crisis for Ebola, we are accredited to provide the transport for the medication and samples for research purposes and our clients are some of the biggest names in medicine, undertaking trials and treatment. Our short term goal is to continue to grow some of our key markets, including the pharmaceutical industry and the Irish trade, without compromising on our high standard of service; we have never lost one of our consignments in 15 years."