WITH A healthy growth of 41.7% to a turnover of R34.2-million in 2003, Premier Freight took 17th spot in the annual IATA Top 30 airfreight export agents’ league. That added to a 26% growth in 2002 to a total of R24.4-m means the company has enjoyed two years of real growth in the market. “We enjoyed the success of the three-pronged strategy we implemented last year, which resulted in this growth of almost 42% moving us up one from position 18,” said Pieter Steyn, Premier Freight’s director of airfreight services. This was a marketing strategy of new business development, development of textile exports and “mining” the customer base. The first of these saw added aggression on the marketing front, and has generated substantial acquisitions in terms of new business development. The second strategy included a highlighting of the benefits to textile exporters of the US Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). The last of these tactics was identifying Premier customers using the company’s other modal facilities, and seeing where airfreight could be a viable alternative.
