About Baxter Freight
Baxter Freight has been established since 2014, having been founded by Ian Baxter and Peter Isler.
The logistics provider specialises in a bespoke service for customers. They arrange shipments by road, air and sea, helping to tailor the perfect freight solution on a customer-by-customer basis. This is managed through four different offerings, Consolidate, Navigate, Aviate and Accelerate, as well as a comprehensive customs solution, giving customers the chance the find the right blend of options for their needs.
In just under 10 years, the company has grown from strength to strength, with a keen focus on delivering top customer service to its clients. By 2022, the team had grown to with a turnover of £37 million.
Activity with Forward Solutions
Baxter Freight began working with Forward Solutions from its early beginnings. Director Ian Baxter, was already aware of Forward Solutions from a previous role, and upon embarking on his new business journey, wanted the help of the freight forwarding experts from day one.
Gary Sawle, Head of IT at Baxter Freight, has been with the company since it started. He remembers the reasons why Forward Solutions were the go-to choice for the company: “It all came down to the configurability of the work, the CRM and operational features that were on offer to us, that made Forward Solutions a clear choice for us.
“We utilise road, air and sea freight, along with customs, EDI and ASP modules from Forward Solutions at present. Many of the modules were customisable, which was important for us, as a new business, as we had to consider if any potential technology partner would be able to help us to achieve our growth plans which were in place.”
Being able to support these growth plans would prove to be crucial, as Baxter Freight began with a handful of employees in 2014, but had soon shot up to 125 members of staff in just eight years. It’s not only been the demonstration of fulfilling business plans by Forward Solutions that has impressed those at Baxter Freight, as Gary explains further:
“Forward Solutions have really helped us when it comes to training. Lots of training days have been carried out, to help our staff embrace and fully get to grips with their solutions which we use, day in, day out. It has proven exceptionally useful and really helped reduce the learning gap for our staff, especially when we take on new starters.
“On those occasions where we have been in touch with the Support team, they have been very helpful, with any issues being solved within no time at all.
“Over the years, we have built up great personal relationships with the team at Forward Solutions, with those like Kevin Bell, Tom Donnelly, and more recently Justin Hill. Everyone is very friendly, approachable and it is always a pleasure to connect with the team.”
With such a long-standing relationship, there have been moments over the years that have seen Forward Solutions step in and support during times of highly pressurised situations. One of those situations was during the various changes with Customs integrations changing, due to legislative measures altering.
According to Gary, the transition was seamless: “Forward were very responsive when we needed support with the Customs integration changes, that were made a couple of years ago. They moved very quickly, to help us transition in time, getting us up-and-running and allowing us to meet our deadlines – which is critical to the daily ongoings within our own business and the business of our customers, too.
“Their strengths are clear in that they are able to react to our needs as their customer, they continue to innovate, dependent upon our feedback and needs, and they are on-hand to help us in our times of need.
“The relationship with Forward Solutions is very important, and critical to our business, as they truly are experts at delivering transport management software.”
