John K Philips powers up in Milestone Year with move to Carbon Neutral HQ

A sustainability-focused logistics company is primed for growth after completing a move to carbon neutral headquarters as it celebrates 50 years in business. John K Philips Group has relocated from St Helens to a 135,000sq ft warehouse and office building in Warrington. The award-winning new HQ at Europa Boulevard is called Solar 120 and has an ‘excellent’ BREEAM rating for its environmentally-friendly features.

Fully covered by solar panels, and with LED lighting, heat pumps and new electric forklift trucks, the site enables John K Philips to provide carbon neutral warehousing to its customers as they increasingly strive to decarbonise the distribution of their goods. Previously a BT call centre, the building was acquired in 2022 by CBRE Investment Management and transformed into a modern warehouse which was named building of the year at the National Sustainability Awards in 2023. John Philips founded his business in 1974 after buying a truck to deliver paint.

Today the group employs 80 staff and has a fleet of 35 trucks and 32 trailers. It remains family-owned, although the day-to-day running of the business is led by managing director Alan Simpson, who joined in 2019. John’s daughter Karrie Hughes is the commercial director.

The business specialises in the storage and UK distribution of goods such as paint and specialist liquids for sectors including pharmaceuticals and healthcare. All of its drivers have ADR training to transport specialist freight. John Philips said: “We have made a significant investment in our new headquarters and warehouse to give us additional storage capacity in line with our plans for future growth.

We’ve been growing steadily year-on-year by 15 per cent, and our aim is to continue to expand at this rate. “Our new location is close to the motorway network and is an ideal location from which to grow our customer base. “Solar 120 is carbon neutral, with the electricity generated from solar panels powering our warehouse, offices and new forklift trucks.

“Sustainability is a priority for our business and our relocation to Solar 120 enables us to deliver significant further progress in this area, with more investment in electric vehicles planned, providing us with the capability to decarbonise our customer supply chains. “Alongside this, we continue to invest in our people and in technology to drive efficiency and productivity. “It’s an exciting time for the business as we celebrate our 50th anniversary.”

John K Philips is a member of the Palletforce express distribution network, which enables it to provide local customers of any size with cost-effective and sustainable overnight delivery of freight across the UK and into Europe.