Pre-tax-profits at Liverpool liquid storage specialist UM Terminals surge from less than £1m to almost £5m in 12 months. Tony McDonough reports

Bulk liquid storage specialist UM Terminals is reporting a significant improvement in profitability in its latest annual accounts.

UM Terminals, based in Regent Road at the Port of Liverpool, has just filed its accounts for the 12 months to July 31, 2024. They reveal pre-tax profits of just under £5m, a big increase on the £887,000 reported in the previous year.

There was also a healthy increase in revenues from £13.8m in the previous year to just over £17m in the most recent year.

In the accounts the company said: “Higher tank occupancy resulted in an increase in revenues over the prior year which, combined with a decrease in costs following the sale of the Birkenhead assets during the year, led to the company reporting a higher operating profit.”

A subsidiary of Belfast-based United Molasses Group, UM employs around 60 people. It specialises in the storage of bulk liquids, including chemicals, industrial oils, vegetable oils, fertiliser and key growth areas of biofuels and biofuel feedstocks.

As well as its base at the Port of Liverpool the firm also operates multiple terminals at other UK port locations including Hull and Bristol. It offers its customers a total of 265,000 cubic metres of storage capacity.

Over the past couple of years it has made a number of investments at the Liverpool site. These have included the introduction of dual dock loading with customers now able to load and discharge cargo at Huskisson Dock and Canada Dock.

UM has also invested in transferring across to low carbon tank heating technology, part of its wider sustainability strategy. This includes the introduction of industrial ground and water source heat pumps to support the reduction in its carbon footprint.

In August 2024 its parent group announced two key appointments. Former UM Terminals managing director Phil McEvoy was promoted to UM Group terminals director and commercial director replaced him as managing director of GB Terminals.

At the time of the announcement, Vic said: “UM Terminals has made significant progress in lots of different areas during the last two years under Phil’s leadership.

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“My focus will be on continuing to deliver the returns on the investment that has been made into the business as part of its strategic growth plan, while ensuring our processes for safety and quality assurance continue to be of the highest possible standard.”

He added: “Several of our long-term customers have increased their storage requirements, while we have also onboarded a number of new customers, meaning that we are almost at capacity.”