Keep it Cool Celebrates 10 Years For The Food Industry

Operating out of Yorkshire, Keep it Cool (founded in 2014) offers specialist same-day refrigerated and temperature-controlled delivery services for the food industry. Over the years, the organisation has developed a trusted reputation for the rapid, yet safe handling of urgent deliveries and has become a partner of choice for an industry where just-in-time logistics prevail. Furthermore, the company also maintains more traditional partnerships with clients on a standardised, weekly basis, positioning Keep it Cool as an ideal partner for businesses during both day-to-day operations and the more challenging seasonal peaks.

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As aforementioned, Keep it Cool began operation in 2014, with the business achieving an initial turnover of approximately GBP200k and employing a team of five. Although operating on a relatively small scale, Keep it Cool successfully impressed prominent names in the industry with its dedicated delivery services that place individual client stock as the ultimate priority. As a result of this growing reputation, Keep it Cool has been able to enjoy roughly year-on-year growth, expanding up to a present-day turnover of GBP2.25m and growing its operational team up to that of 30 highly skilled industry professionals and drivers.

Keep it Cool is incredibly proud of its team of operatives and of its ability to deliver a true 24/7 operation. Over the last 12 months, Keep it Cool's drivers have undertaken over 8,500 dedicated deliveries to all corners of the UK (covering journeys of almost 1.2m miles in total), and Keep it Cool makes clear the important role that its team members play. As such, Keep it Cool places the well-being and professional development of its staff as of the utmost importance, with drivers undergoing regular training and continued professional development, with even new starters immediately being thrown into a rather comprehensive induction training process.

In the last 12 months, this has led to two class 2 drivers and one class 1 driver being trained directly by the firm.

Concerning the fleet, Keep it Cool maintains a large, diverse fleet including everything from MWB vans through to 26t rigids and artics. Paralleling the growth of its operational teams, Keep it Cool has grown from a fleet of five vehicles (2014) up to a network of 20 modern vehicles as of today (October, 2024). All vehicles are maintained to the highest standards and utilise industry-leading tracking and telematics software to offer both transparency for the client and in ensuring operational efficiencies across the board.

With full visibility of all vehicles and driver performance metrics, Keep it Cool is able to ensure around the clock traceability and that all drivers are conducting their duties in the most environmentally efficient and safe manner possible (particularly in the case of driver behaviours). Keep it Cool maintains a continued strategy of investment into its operational teams, fleet, and associated technologies. Over the last 18 months the firm has added two new DAF vehicles to the fleet (1 x 8t and 1 x 12t), as well as investing in a combination of 7t, 18t, and 26t vehicles.

Orders have also already been placed for 2025, with sources at Keep it Cool indicating the addition of another 7.5t, 18t, and potentially a further unit and trailer to expand the fleet even further. Benefiting from continued modernisation of its fleet and backed by monitoring of driver behaviours, Keep it Cool has also been making incremental improvements to tackle its carbon footprint and operate in the most environmentally friendly manner possible. With increased pressures on organisations to strive for carbon net zero and eliminate their footprint entirely however, more aggressive sustainability initiatives are being assessed by the company to ensure any such transition can align with operational considerations.

To learn more about the firm's sustainability strategy amongst other things, we spoke with Nikki Redhead, Managing Director of Keep it Cool, who said: "We strive to reduce our carbon emissions through effective planning, reducing mileage where we can and engaging with our team on a monthly basis in regards to reducing our MPG. We renew the fleet every 5 years and always adopt the most advanced technology in the vehicles and the fridges to ensure improved carbon emission levels. The next step will be our move to electric or hydrogen vehicles, this is something we continually assess."

As for what the future may hold, sources at Keep it Cool indicate that 2024 is on track to deliver commercial growth of around 10%, continuing the firm's growth trajectory over the last 10 years. Beyond 2024 however, Keep it Cool has made clear its ambitions to double down on client relationships, the strengths of its service, and to evolve the service it can offer to the market. No doubt, this will allow for even further commercial growth at a pace that may even outstrip the growth trajectory seen to-date.

Giving insight into the last 10 years and the firm's future growth plans, Nikki Redhead, explained:  "I am incredibly proud of what Keep it Cool has achieved in the last 10 years. Our core values are honesty and integrity; we provide an excellent service because we care and we are committed to each and every customer.

I am truly looking forward to the next decade - the growth and the significant changes coming within our industry will certainly keep us on our toes and we look forward to doing more business with future clients across the cold chain." She added: "The next 5 years will show an escalation and advancement within our fleet; a greater, wider client base and more sophisticated relationships with the food manufacturers and their networks. Keep It Cool will undertake more in-depth transport requirements as well as safekeeping our fully fledged, urgent reaction delivery service to complement the former and to retain the specialism that helped make us successful."

Recognising the success of the company thus far, Keep it Cool has been nominated for a number of 2024 awards, including Inspirational Woman of the Year for its Managing Director Nikki Redhead, Refrigerated Courier of the Year, and for Customer Service in the TCS&D Awards.

Certainly, we're sure we'll be hearing more of the company in the years to come and we eagerly look forward to reporting further on just where the close of 2024 and the subsequent years take the company.

Transport & Logistics - Driving The Industry Forward