From a humble beginning and a chat over a glass of whisky between two friends in 2011, it was agreed to take a chance and set up a new freight forwarding, logistics and global sea, road and air freight solutions firm.

Named Ucargo LLP, the company has developed into a global business with a head office in Windmill Street, Gravesend and offices in Hong Kong, Manchester and Genova, Italy.

Director Tony Kennedy said: “We have a great team of eight staff who each bring their complimentary skills to the business. We have grown into an international company offering sea, road and air freight chartering solutions with its roots firmly in Gravesend.

“Our hands on approach has gained us numerous contacts throughout Asia and the Middle East and this will enable us to increase our customer base during the next five years allowing us to expand in to other parts of the world.”

In February 2017, the firm - which won the British International Freight Association Project Forwarder of the Year Award in 2016 - transported a complete carnival from Hong Kong to the UK, a project it has subsequently completed from the UK to Hong Kong and the return journey for the past four years.

During the daunting logistical process of arranging over 30 containers and 3000 cbm of RORO cargo to be transported from Hong Kong to the UK, Ucargo was awarded a contract to transport a whole fairground park from Dubai to the UK.

This involved arranging the transport and delivery of 29 trailers, over 80 containers and 44 big wheel spokes. Four ships had to be sourced over eight weeks as this was a time sensitive project.

The team travelled to Dubai numerous times to oversee the loading of the cargo. Running these two projects simultaneously was a highly pressured logistical challenge that was completed successfully leaving both customers very satisfied.

In late 2017 the return transport of the carnival back to Hong Kong was organised, a shipment that included a circus tent intended to be in Hong Kong on the opening night of the carnival.

This May the company is moving into larger premises in Windmill Street, Gravesend. There is an office in Hong Kong and plans are in place to another one in Shanghai later this year.

This year’s sponsors are: University of Greenwich, Barnes Roffe, Handleshanken, KM Media Group, Kuflink, Gravesham council, Rise Communications, Hatten Wyatt, Caxtons, Partnership Invoice Finance, GK Coffee Group (Starbucks), and SoftForge.