UM Terminals has started 2023 with more enquiries than ever before.

The Liverpool-headquartered business puts its continued success down to the diverse range of its product and service offering allied to its customer-centric approach.

Alongside these two factors is the speed and flexibility with which it can extend its capabilities to meet the ever-evolving requirements of its many blue-chip customers.

A current example of this is the way the business is responding to the increase in demand for its biofuels services.

The uptick in enquiries in this area is part of a growing trend ahead of the 2030 deadline for the phasing out of new diesel vehicles and the UK government’s 2050 target to reach net-zero carbon.

Enquiries have come from fuel producers and distributors seeking a storage partner for Hydrotreated Vegetable Oils (HVOs), a diesel alternative fuel manufactured from 100% renewable and sustainable waste.

UM Terminals has also secured an important new piece of business harnessing the company’s pre-treatment specialism removing moisture and impurities from used cooking oils before their onward transport to Europe.

Phil McEvoy, Managing Director of UM Terminals, said: “Biofuels is an exciting growth area for our business and the enquiries we are receiving are coming from the front and back end of the supply chain.

“We are partnering with customers which are looking for our pre-treatment and storage capabilities.

“As we continue on the carbon neutral timeline to 2030 and the phasing out of diesel, we want to be positioned as a biofuels service provider of choice.”

One of UM Terminals’ key selling points is its network of 8 terminals, strategically located across the UK, with a current capacity of over 300,000 cubic metres of bulk liquid storage, but with an ambition to increase this to around 400,000 cubic metres.

Vic Brodrick, UM Terminals’ Commercial Director, said: “Supply chains are giving particular attention to reducing road miles and storing nearer to their customers. It makes sense commercially, operationally and environmentally. With our terminals distributed across the UK, we are ideally situated to meet our customers’ wider transport and logistics requirements.”

In addition to broadening its service provision in biofuels, UM Terminals also has increased capability in general chemicals, including acids, alkalis and petrochemicals, building on an expertise established over many years.

UM Terminals currently has a small number of storage opportunities at its Gladstone and Regent Road terminals in Liverpool. The tanks available range from 10,000 to 15,000 cubic metres. All the tanks are of carbon steel construction, have heating available and, crucially, are located next to deep water at the Port of Liverpool.

The strategic location and excellent transport links offered by UM Terminals were among the key reasons for one long-term chemicals customer recently increasing its storage capacity.

The client, headquartered in Scandinavia, had previously taken two small tanks at one of UM Terminals’ facilities.

But following an investment in the region of £2million by UM Terminals, the customer agreed to take a much larger tank that has been specially converted to store an AdBlue product.

Phil McEvoy joined as Managing Director towards the end of 2022 after having held several senior roles in the UK and Europe, most recently as Operations Director for Northern Europe at global chemicals distributor Univar Solutions.

Phil said: “UM Terminals has several key strengths as a business, but among the most important are the diversity of our product and service offering, our customer-centric approach and a real can-do attitude among everyone in the team.

“We love problem-solving for our customers and, when appropriate, matching their needs with bespoke solutions.

“We recently won a new customer from the fuel industry who told us that our team’s customer service, communication and willingness to go the extra mile were a total contrast to what they had previously been used to.

“Another customer, one of the biggest brands in the world, told us that our more ‘personable service’ was the reason they switched from their previous provider.

“From those making a first enquiry through to long-standing customers, this commitment to listening and responding in an effective, timely and friendly manner is ingrained across our business.

“Added to this is a hunger to continue adapting to meet the current and future needs of our customers and, where appropriate, supporting this with investment.

“We are moving into 2023 extending a number of existing customer relationships, to support them with new requirements, as well as onboarding new customers such as the ones in biofuels.”

The UM Terminals’ portfolio consists of a broad portfolio of around 40 products including vegetable oils, industrial, food and feed, chemical, fertiliser, fuels, biofuels and base oils.

Value-added services include biofuel feedstock pre-treatment, blending, water dilution, product packing, HMRC bonded warehouse and COMAH compliance.

UM Terminals is part of the United Molasses Group.

The Group’s other services include the international trading of molasses, the sales and distribution of molasses and the procurement and marketing of vegetable oils for use in the animal feed industry.

https://tankstorage.org.uk/assets/Insight-Magazine/Insight-Spring-2023.pdf