2024 is a milestone year for John K. Philips.
Not only are we excited to be celebrating our 50th anniversary, but we’ve completed our move from St Helens to our carbon neutral headquarters in Warrington.
Mr Philips founded the business back in 1974 in St Helens after he purchased a truck to deliver paint and it has remained a family-run business ever since.
John’s daughter, Karrie Hughes is the commercial director while the daily operations are led by managing director, Alan Simpson, who joined the team in 2019.
Specialising in the storage and UK distribution of paint and specialist liquids for sectors including pharmaceuticals and healthcare, we employ 80 staff and operate a fleet of 35 trucks and 32 trailers.
Sustainability is a big priority for our business.
The award-winning new HQ at Europa Boulevard is called Solar 120 and has an ‘Excellent’ BREEAM rating for its environmentally-friendly features.
The former BT call centre in Westbrook was acquired in 2022 by CBRE Investment Management and transformed into a modern warehouse which, we’re proud to announce, was named ‘Building of the Year’ at the National Sustainability Awards in 2023.
Our new 135,000sq. ft warehouse is fully covered by solar panels on the outside and has LED lighting, heat pumps, and new electric forklift trucks on the inside.
The electricity generated from our rooftop solar panels power our warehouse, offices, and forklift trucks, allowing us to provide carbon neutral warehousing.
Our relocation to Solar 120 enables us to deliver significant further progress in becoming a sustainable business, with more investment in electric vehicles (EVs) planned.
We are continually investing in our people and technology to drive efficiency and productivity. All our drivers have ADR training to transport specialist freight. ADR stands for “Accord Dangereux Routier”, which translates to “European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road”, so you can be confident your goods are in safe hands.
We have made a significant investment in our new headquarters and warehouse to give us additional storage capacity in line with our plans for future growth. We’ve been growing steadily year-on-year by 15% and our aim is to continue to expand at this rate!
Located close to the motorway network, our carbon neutral HQ is perfectly situated for us to grow our customer base – accommodating the needs of more clients eager to reduce their carbon footprints.
We’re also a member of the Palletforce express distribution network, which enables us to provide local customers with cost-effective and sustainable overnight delivery of freight across the UK and into Europe.
As members of the Hazchem network too, we can transport hazardous cargo, such as chemicals, solvents, paints, fuels, and other volatile materials safely.