Transport & storage sector leads UK’s charge out of recession

The UK has officially come out of recession, with higher than expected GDP (gross domestic product) growth of 0.6% in the first three months of the year.

It’s the fastest rise in two years. The leading home delivery expert Parcelhero has highlighted the part the transport & storage sector has played in this growth.

Parcelhero’s Head of Consumer Research, David Jinks M.I.L.T., says: ‘Britain’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) has revealed that Britain’s GDP rose by 0.6% in Q1 (January-March) of 2024.

Crucially, the growth in the latest quarter was driven by a 0.7% increase in services output. The largest contributor to this was a 3.7% increase in the transport and storage subsector.

‘Some sections of the transport & storage sector saw their highest quarterly growth rate since Quarter 3, 2020.

‘It’s extremely encouraging to see Britain is now coming out of recession, it’s good news for both businesses and home owners. The ONS says this growth over the first quarter of 2024 was “stronger” than expected and identifies services such as retail, public transport, haulage and health as being the biggest drivers of growth.

‘Transport & Storage businesses contributed 0.15% of the overall 0.7% increase in services output, again, the strongest result of all the services sectors.

‘Before we all breathe a sigh of relief that the worst of our economic woes is behind us, however, the Q1 figures aren’t all good news. They also show a 3.4% fall in goods exports, leading to an overall exports decline of 1%, when the UK’s service exports are included.

‘Nonetheless, it is encouraging to see the transport & storage sector is helping to lead economic recovery. Key to this sector is the domestic and global parcels market. Parcelhero has been analysing the latest courier, express and parcels (CEP) market data. The impact of new e-commerce, TMS and automated shipping technologies will drive continued growth. That means the global parcels market is likely to soar from $482.9bn (£378.4bn) in 2023 to $648bn (£507bn) by 2030, and the UK market from £16.4bn ($20.97bn) to £25bn ($32bn).

‘We’ve been analysing all the latest expert analysis of the international and domestic courier and delivery services markets. Globally, the market was worth $482.9bn in 2023, up 2.5% from the year before. It has grown around 5% between 2018 and 2023 and we predict continued growth of around 4.31% CAGR by 2030. That’s roughly in line with Exactitude Consultancy’s growth forecast of 4.2% ($466.87bn in 2022 to $648.8bn by 2030).

‘Similarly, the UK’s courier, express and parcel market value reached approximately $20.97bn (£16.4bn) in 2023, according to Expert Market Research (EMR), which also predicts the UK market to rise to $38.66bn (£30bn) by 2032, at a CAGR of 7%. That’s broadly in line with our forecast of 6.22% CAGR growth to $32bn (£25bn) by 2030.

‘The growth of new tracking and end-to-end shipping solutions is set to fuel the rapid growth in the size of the global TMS market. In 2023, this was worth around $13.5bn (£10.58bn) but by 2028 it is expected to reach $33.3bn (£26bn), a growth of 19.7%, according to the latest independent research by MarketsandMarkets.com.

‘With the forthcoming launch of Parcelhero’s new SaaS platform, Parcelhero Pro, into this market, businesses will be able to ship in bulk, optimise cost and completely outsource their after-sales customer support. Its launch has also created the opportunity for investors to fund its plans for the growth and marketing of the new platform.

‘The Parcelhero Group has launched our equity funding campaign on Floww, the internationally respected fundraising and investment platform. This will enable high net worth individuals (HNWI), angel investors and venture capitalists to invest.

‘With 17% revenue CAGR over 10 years and 21% CAGR from 2019-2022 Parcelhero is the UK’s fastest growing logistics comparison group.

‘For the first time in its history, it is offering investors a chance to back this established, highly profitable logistics business.