Gloucestershire-based business expands operations and opens first warehouse in Europe
A local firm which supplies medical and vaccine bags has announced its overseas expansion with the opening of a new warehouse in Europe.
Following significant business growth over the last 12-18 months, CorrMed, based in Huntley, has signed an agreement with Kinesis Medical, a specialist warehousing and fulfilment organisation in the Netherlands.
The company, spearheaded by Managing Director Katie Houghton who has over 20 years’ experience in the medical sector, has seen sales soar during the pandemic, as demand drastically increased for its infection control products. Since the start of lockdown, CorrMed has supported the healthcare workforce across the country as unprecedented levels of infection resistant supplies were urgently sought. This included providing a huge stock of its Universal Medical Infection Control bags to the NHS Nightingale Hospitals, as well as donating Mass Incident bags to medical teams in Oxfordshire, where field medics were brought in to help with front line paramedic teams.
The expansion comes after the team used the time during COVID to not only research and invest in new products, but also analyse the supply chain and invest in additional warehousing, distribution facilities and logistics staff.
The move was also influenced by the export challenges the firm faced as a result of Brexit, which caused shipment delays and uncertainty around European delivery. The business sought an urgent, reliable and trusted solution to its distribution dilemma, as it found the lead-in time “unacceptable” for both CorrMed and its European partners.
Katie says: “As a local, successful business we deem ourselves to be extremely fortunate to not have only flourished during what has been an extremely difficult economic period for so many, but to have been able to retain our staff as well as create further job opportunities. Furthermore, securing a European trade deal post-Brexit sends out an extremely positive message to those businesses across the region and indeed nationwide that are planning to expand to EU countries.
She added: “When Brexit happened, it became clear, quite quickly, that shipments out to our European partners were taking an excessive and therefore unacceptable time to deliver. To ensure we could continue to offer a fast service and delivery on our products, Kinesis Medical’s one-stop shop and exclusive service to the medical and cosmetics industry, meant its end-to-end solution and highly specialised approach would make an excellent partner for CorrMed.”
