Northstarr acquires UPN to expand national pallet network

Wolverhampton-based logistics group northstarr has acquired United Pallet Network (UPN), bringing two major British pallet distribution networks under common ownership in a business expected to handle more than 6.3 million pallets annually.

The acquisition adds UPN to a group that already owns Pallet-Track, extending northstarr’s position in domestic freight distribution. Both networks will retain their existing brands, independent operating arrangements and separate membership models rather than being combined into one organisation.

Financial terms have not been disclosed. The transaction expands northstarr’s portfolio of transport, logistics and technology businesses while preserving the established relationships through which UPN and Pallet-Track serve customers throughout the United Kingdom.

UPN was founded in 2001 by Martyn Chapman and has grown to include more than 100 member companies. Its head office is in Leicester, while its 300,000 sq ft SmartHUB near Lichfield, Staffordshire, provides central infrastructure for processing and distributing palletised freight.

Northstarr has also invested in the facilities supporting Pallet-Track. Earlier this year, the group opened a new headquarters and 405,000 sq ft distribution hub at Waterway Business Park in Wolverhampton, providing additional capacity for its established freight network.

Pallet networks operate through relationships with independent transport companies, which collect goods from customers and arrange their movement through shared regional and national distribution facilities. Consignments are consolidated for onward transport before other network members complete deliveries in the destination area.

The arrangement allows individual hauliers to offer nationwide distribution without operating their own delivery infrastructure in every part of the country. It also gives manufacturers, wholesalers and other commercial customers access to scheduled pallet collection and delivery services through local transport operators.

UPN and Pallet-Track will continue to use their individual membership arrangements. Their continued independence means existing members can retain the operating relationships, systems and service identities associated with each network, rather than being required to transfer immediately to a single distribution model.

Stuart Godman, group chief executive of northstarr, identified the acquisition as an important development in the group’s expansion strategy. He pointed to UPN’s established membership, technology and operational performance as reasons for bringing the business into the wider organisation.

Dave Brown will remain managing director of UPN. The management continuity is intended to preserve relationships with the network’s member hauliers, whose local collection and delivery operations remain central to the way UPN provides national coverage.

The acquisition also adds to northstarr’s existing range of logistics services. The group owns Truckcom, a cloud-based transport management software provider, alongside Sqrrl Solutions, which operates in flexible warehousing, and X2, a managed road transport business.

Those businesses give northstarr activities beyond conventional pallet distribution, including transport planning technology, warehousing and managed freight services. The group can therefore offer customers and member businesses access to additional logistics services while retaining the separate commercial identities of its two pallet networks.

Technology plays an important role in coordinating pallet operations, particularly where consignments pass through central hubs before being distributed by different member companies. Transport management systems support the allocation and monitoring of freight, maintaining operational information across collections, trunk movements and final deliveries.

The group has not announced changes to either network’s membership terms or quantified the financial contribution expected from UPN. Its immediate expansion is therefore established through the acquisition of an existing operating business, rather than a commitment to merge the two networks or reorganise their distribution infrastructure.

With UPN’s SmartHUB near Lichfield and Pallet-Track’s newer Wolverhampton facility, northstarr now controls two substantial Midlands distribution operations. Together, the independently operated networks are expected to handle more than 6.3 million pallets each year.