Capital Magazine – December 2023

M. Evren Baturalp, the founder and chairman of the board of Euroturk Freight, a company synonymous with international transport and customs clearance in the United Kingdom, states that they are one of the few companies that have successfully integrated logistics with technology. They grew above the industry average last year, and Baturalp says they will achieve their growth targets this year, adding, ‘We plan to go public in the future.’

Euroturk Freight, an international freight forwarding company, was established in 2005 in the Cambridgeshire region of England. Founded by M. Evren Baturalp, the company provides customs and transit (t1/t2) declaration services, transit trade, sea (fcl & lcl), and air consolidations, and international transportation services between European countries. Baturalp mentions that their headquarters are in England, and they provide services in three different locations in Turkey, including Istanbul, Bursa, and Izmir. Baturalp, who states that they have become a brand associated with the United Kingdom, says, ‘Our Turkey offices provide mainly logistics services, while our main center in England is more focused on customs and transit declaration processes.’ Baturalp explains his company and new investment plans as follows:

‘SOLUTION PARTNER’ ‘Our company, while offering every kind of solution partnership related to international and domestic transportation, also provides services in the UK in customs, transit declaration processes (T1/T2), import/export transportation, and storage. With Brexit, we can provide new customs document requirements like ENS-EXS / SSD, GMR, GVMS from all ports in the United Kingdom. We also offer a wide range of services to European and Turkish exporters/importers and international transport companies, including customs procedures on the import side in the UK and Ireland, IPR, OPR, customs area / ERTS area entry/exit customs declarations, CFSP, and T1/ T2 continuation transit declarations.

‘For exports, we offer export declarations and transit procedures from bonded areas to England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Ireland, as well as T1/T2 transit processes. We can easily provide TIR Carnet, CMR procedures, certificate of origin, and EUR1 document processes. Moreover, we are the only company in Dover, the busiest land transport customs port in England, that can issue certificates of origin.

‘AEO CERTIFICATE’ ‘One of the most important features that distinguish us from other companies in the customs sector in the United Kingdom and Ireland is that we have the AEO (UK Authorised Economic Operator) certification approved by official authorities. Being the first and only Turkish-origin company with this certification, we have positioned ourselves quite differently in the sector. In terms of logistics activities, the innovations and technological advancements our company has made have moved us to a different position compared to our competitors. Supporting our entire fleet with Eurostar 6 vehicles, enhancing the tracking of our trucks and trailers with modern technological equipment, and being supported by R&D studies to reduce environmental pollution to a minimum under green energy initiatives have made us one of the few companies that successfully combine logistics with technology.

‘SUSTAINABLE GROWTH’ ‘Last year, our company recorded growth above the industry average. Our financial data for 2022 showed a 68% growth compared to the previous year, while our projected financial data for 2023 shows a 120% increase in net profitability compared to 2022. In short, we are continuing with stable growth over the years in line with our targets. Our revenue expectations are a return on the investments we have made over time. Therefore, we are moving forward with confident steps, aiming for corporate growth along with rational growth.

‘GOING PUBLIC TARGET’ ‘With our Euroturk Freight headquarters in England and our offices in Turkey, we have short, medium, and long-term strategic plans both sectorally and socially. In the short term, we aim to increase our transit declaration guarantee as a UK customs tariff to 200 million GBP, and in the long term, we plan to raise our guarantee to even higher figures. We aim to open customs and transit offices in European countries other than Ireland to bring our company to a level where it can compete with European companies. Our state-subsidized work in sustainability and climate will continue to bring us to the forefront in social responsibility. Regarding the integration of innovation and technology with the logistics sector, we continue to minimize damage and risks by modifying artificial intelligence and autonomous systems into our next-generation vehicles. In the medium and long term, we plan to renew our entire fleet with electric vehicles and reduce carbon and filter emissions to zero. In the long term, we intend to start our public offering process by combining these investments with our innovative and green transportation slogan.’

‘CONTINUING TO INVEST’

‘EFFECTIVE GROWTH’ ‘As a company that aims to develop and improve as part of our corporate culture, we are at the forefront of effective growth. In this context, we continue our investments in Turkey’s warehouse areas. As a result of our investments in Ireland, we can easily perform customs procedures at all border gates and ports. We can get results in a very short time by renewing our existing infrastructure and ERP technology and prioritizing processes in UK customs areas. This situation prevents significant losses of time for our stakeholders.

‘SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY’ ‘In addition, our initiatives with official institutions in the UK to prevent international smuggling and illegal immigration continue. We plan to implement our patented trailer alarm systems soon. In doing so, we aim to be pioneers in the sector by encouraging our commercial competitors in the industry to use this system, under social responsibility.

Capital Magazine – November 2023

“We are applying innovative approaches to our processes.”

Euroturk Freight, with its headquarters in the UK, also serves in three different locations in Turkey: Istanbul, Bursa, and Izmir. The company managed to increase its net profit by 120% in the first quarter of 2023. M. Evren Baturalp, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Euroturk Group of Companies, says, “We follow technological developments and apply innovative and creative approaches to our processes.”

Euro Freight is a logistics company that provides top-level and quality service logistics flow of interest in Turkey and Europe, with its headquarters in the UK. Its main services include international freight forwarding, UK and Ireland customs clearance services, transit trade, and international transportation between European countries with air and sea (FCL&LCL) consolidations. The company serves in three different locations in Turkey: Istanbul, Bursa, and Izmir, along with its UK headquarters. M. Evren Baturalp, Chairman of the Euroturk Group of Companies, says, “In addition to being experienced in every area of domestic and international transportation, since 2000 we have been providing services in the UK in customs, transit operations (T1/T2), import/export transportation, and warehousing. We aim to ensure continuous system development by following technological advancements and implementing innovative and creative approaches to our processes, as well as by keeping up with management system standards and legal regulations, and by engaging all our employers, our happy employees, and relevant parties in our management systems.” Baturalp states that the industry has healed the wounds of the pandemic in 2023 and adds, “Our net profitability for the first quarter of 2023 increased by 120% in foreign currency terms compared to the same period of the previous year.” M. Evren Baturalp, Chairman of the Euroturk Group of Companies, answered our questions as follows:

How is the year 2023 going?

2023 is a year in which the logistics sector has healed from the pandemic and gained momentum. The growing trade volume between Turkey and European countries and the change in customs status with the UK’s departure from the European Union after Brexit have positioned us very differently in the industry. Being the first and only Turkish-origin logistics company to have the AEO certificate approved by the UK official authorities and having authorized status at all ports in this country forms the basis of this difference. This situation has positively affected our growth ratios over the years. After the pandemic, our company achieved a 300% growth with vehicle investments in the transportation side between 2020 and 2022. Our net profitability in the first quarter of 2023 increased by 120% in foreign currency terms compared to the same period of the previous year. Considering that all these figures are adjusted for inflation and that the logistics sector has shown a 17% increase in foreign currency terms according to the CBRT data for the same period, I can comfortably say that we have achieved above-average growth in the sector. This growth is driving us to invest and provide services in different countries. Therefore, our efforts to obtain a full customs clearance certificate in Ireland outside of the United Kingdom have been successful in 2023. In Ireland, we are providing services at an international level to both Turkish and European transport and forwarding companies as well as export and import firms, with the Euroturk guarantee for customs and transit operations.

How has digitalization in different business lines changed consumer expectations?

What are you doing to respond to these new expectations and needs? We are aware that technological advancements are inevitable for the logistics sector. The innovative developments we offer to our customers for on-time delivery and the ability to track their products are one of the most important factors in our growth. Additionally, the fact that customs operations in the UK and Ireland are conducted digitally only and the services we offer in this area are the biggest proof of how advanced our technological infrastructure is. Furthermore, our fleet’s tractors and trailers are supported with the latest technological alarm systems and we have been able to prevent illegal immigration in cooperation with the International Organization for Migration (IOM). We are also continuing our R&D efforts at full speed regarding autonomous driving.

What are the most important items on your investment agenda?

We evaluate our investments more in innovative areas and customs fields. With our warehouse areas that we plan to implement at Turkey’s border gates, we aim to be more effective in customs areas. We have a fully authorized customs area that we plan to implement in Ireland soon. In the field of innovation, we have ERP systems that minimize human error factors in customs operations. According to our R&D planning, we plan to actively implement automation processes at every point of international transportation. With both the AEO certification approved by the UK Customs Ministry and our authorized obligator certificate approved by the Turkish authorities, we offer fast, proactive solutions. In line with our growth targets, we do not want to remain indifferent to the developing Asian market. For this reason, we continue our efforts to