Independent freight forwarder, F.S. Mackenzie has further enhanced its overseas network, with the opening of a wholly-owned subsidiary and its first office in Germany.

F.S. Mackenzie Germany GmbH is headquartered in B'nen, near Dortmund and offers the full range of multimodal freight forwarding services to shippers trading with Germany.

Strategically located in the heartland of the industrialized Rhur, the office is headed by Stephan Uphoff. Mr. Uphoff brings 25 years forwarding experience to the new company, 15 of which were spent in Southern Europe, where he was responsible for all intra-European traffic.

From its strong central location, the new subsidiary strengthens F.S. Mackenzie's position in this important marketplace. The new subsidiary's primary focus will be enhancing F.S. Mackenzie's ability to meet the shipping requirements of companies active in the trade between Germany, Russia and the Ukraine. Germany is one of the largest trading partners of the latter countries.

However, through its new German branch, F.S. Mackenzie is also able to combine shipments from customers in the UK and Germany for onward distribution via trailer, for example into key Eastern European markets in which the company has tremendous experience.

In Germany, F.S. Mackenzie also offers local collections and deliveries connecting into its own weekly groupage services to Moscow, St Petersburg and Kiev, which are well established.

In Moscow, F.S. Mackenzie has recently started a new department which concentrates on intra-Russian services which means that the company can now handle cargoes throughout Russia.

Comments Alfred Stienen, F.S. Mackenzie managing director, 'The opening of this new office is a major development for the company.

It provides us with a presence in a country that is the main trading partner for both Russia and the Ukraine, where we have an ever increasing presence through our own offices. It also puts us in a better position to serve customers moving goods between the UK, Germany and beyond into Eastern Europe - core trades for our overland trailer operations.

'Having opened branches in the Ukraine and Tatarstan last year, it's very pleasing to be able to consolidate our presence in central Europe with this important development in Germany.'

Including Germany, F.S. Mackenzie now has nine wholly owned offices, including four in the UK, located at Basildon, Dover, Heathrow and Liverpool. The company recently opened its first Ukrainian office, in Kiev and has a further three subsidiary offices in Russia, located in Kazan, Moscow and St Petersburg, all of which offer effective real-time management and control of all customer shipments.

In the UK, FSM has additional cargo receiving centers in Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Glasgow, Manchester and Newcastle.