Untitled Document

Johannesburg, South Africa, 6 November 2009 – Imperial Logistics today announced that it has won the ‘Best Transport Operator’ award at the 2009 FOCUS on Excellence Awards on
3 November 2009. The FOCUS on Excellence Awards, sponsored by WesBank, applaud transport operators, vehicle and trailor suppliers and the country’s leading providers of tyres, fuels and lubricants. The array of Excellence Award finalists is nominated and winners chosen by customers through surveys focused on finding key players in the transport industry that are true leaders in their respective sectors, delivering outstanding performance that is characterised by exceptional service delivery and product quality.

“What an honour to receive this award. We are both excited and proud to be recognised by our customers for quality and service delivery, especially in these troubled times,” says Abrie de Swardt, Marketing Director, IMPERIAL Logistics. “This award is the culmination of a huge team effort, hard work and the focus on the continued improvement of our services. We believe the key is close relationships with our customers. Today we want to herald our valued customers as we would not have been able to achieve these results without their loyal support and cooperation.”

“There are many world-class companies with the transport industry – and we would like to acknowledge this fact,” says Charleen Clarke, Editor of FOCUS ON TRANSPORT AND LOGISTICS magazine. “The winners represent the crème de la crème of the transport crop. In these tough economic times, we have seen that those companies that truly deliver excellence in all areas of their businesses continue to trade profitably.”

IMPERIAL Logistics won the category of ‘Best Transport Operator’. Other big brand winners in the different categories include BP Southern Africa, Engen Petroleum, Shell South Africa, Bridgestone, Maxiprest Tyres, Greyhound, Hino, Toyota Hilux, Mercedes-Benz, MAN Truck & Bus SA, Volvo Southern Africa, Nissan Diesel and Afrit. Many of these companies are either valued customers or suppliers of IMPERIAL Logistics. “We congratulate them all on their outstanding performance,” says Abrie de Swardt, Marketing Director, IMPERIAL Logistics.

It’s been an excellent year for IMPERIAL Logistics. The company has won a number of significant awards ranging from ‘Corporate Educator of the Year’ to the newly introduced Logistics Achiever Enviro Award for its initiatives in ‘going green’. In addition, IMPERIAL Logistics was nominated for the ‘African Investor Educator of the Year’ award together with large brands such as Coca-Cola and Microsoft.

“There is no doubt that IMPERIAL Logistics is a highly worthy recipient of the Best Transport Operator title: the company truly epitomises the term, “excellence”, says Charleen Clarke, Editor of FOCUS ON TRANSPORT AND LOGISTICS magazine.

Imperial Logistics is the leading logistics and supply chain management company in southern Africa with an international footprint in Europe. Imperial Logistics Southern Africa provides customised value-added logistics services and supply chain solutions to blue chip customers in almost every industry. Imperial Logistics is 100% owned by Imperial Holdings and the Southern Africa division is home to more than 70 operating companies, categorised into four key divisions, namely Transport and Warehousing, Consumer Products, Specialised Freight and Integration Services. Imperial Logistics International focuses on European markets and comprises four operating units, namely Panopa Logistik, neska, Imperial Reederei and Brouwer Shipping. For further information, please visit www.imperiallogistics.co.za

The FOCUS on Excellence Awards programme was initiated in 2006 and has become the premier accolade within the transport industry. A list of finalists is compiled following extensive research within the transport industry.Highly respected market research company, Scott Byers, surveys customers and asks thousands of questions to industry captains before compiling the list of finalists and subsequent visitors. The awards survey results were verified by PricewaterhouseCoopers. The FOCUS on Excellence Awards is sponsored by WesBank.