After Europa Worldwide published its excellent group-wide results, the Air & Sea division of the company also reported its best substantial growth for Q1 of 2018.

Europa Air is based at Heathrow, and reported a 26% increase in import and export volume in Q1. Meanwhile Europa Sea which is based in Birmingham also saw double digit growth in the same period.

According to a statement from the firm, it is planning to recruit more business development managers (BDMs) and internal pricing coordinators to grow the profits and revenues of the £31 million turnover division. The aim is to have at least one Air & Sea BDM at all 11 Europa branches across the UK.

Europa Air & Sea Director, Angus Hind, said: “With both divisions growing so rapidly, we’re now on a national recruitment drive to boost our sales team as we’ve seen the value of the connections made by our BDM’s and internal pricing coordinators.

“In the last quarter we’ve also seen a steady increase in UK paid exports coming through our Heathrow depot, which I feel is a positive reflection on the UK manufacturing industry and an indicator that Brexit is having less of an impact on exports than many expected.”

Despite the shake-up in international shipping alliances, especially the recent joint venture between Japan’s three largest container lines to create One Network Express, South East Asia has proved to be Europa Sea’s strongest region for growth during 2018.

Hind added: “With phenomenal company-wide end of year results and such a strong start to the year for our team, we’re optimistic that we can achieve our targets for growth over the coming months, with our division of the business making an increasing contribution to the Group’s overall turnover.”