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UK's Davies Turner open to Iran trade for years through thick and thin

COMPANIES contemplating the Iranian market now that sanctions are being removed are being warned to make sure that they deal with a logistics company that has practical experience in the country.

Davies Turner, the UK's largest independent forwarder, points to its recent shipment of over 95 tonnes of publishing material to the 29th Tehran International Book Fair (TIBF), as proof that it can deliver, said a company statement.

Since the inception of TIBF in 1987, Davies Turner has transported publishers' books to the event from countries across the globe.

"Not a bad record," said Davies Turner chairman Philip Stephenson, but not that surprising since the company, which first established an office in Tehran in the mid 1960s, has maintained that presence with an experienced manager through all the ups and downs of trade with the country.

Mr Stephenson believes few would dispute his company's claim to be Britain's No 1 freight forwarder to and from Iran having pioneered the overland route as part of its multimodal service mix and remaining active in the market by maintaining its own representative office for almost half a century.

"Fifty years ago, Iran was seen as the most up and coming economy in the Middle East. Events in the late 1970s turned out very differently. But there has been enough trade over the intervening years to justify Davies Turner's continued presence there," he said.

"The ending of sanctions is unleashing the country's productivity and merchant traditions, boosting Anglo-Iranian trade.

"I would urge companies seeking to capitalise on the trading opportunities to entrust their shipments to a company that has kept its own presence in Iran for the last half century," he said.

In Iran, Davies Turner is there on the ground to help Iranian business people reconnect to their trading partners in Britain, Ireland and around the rest of the world.

Said Mr Stephenson: "Progress is slow but sure and we are carrying progressively more freight each and every month, not just to and from the UK, but cross trade involving many other countries too."