Peters & May Ltd employs around 100 people in eight countries and is part of the Constantine Group of companies which includes niche logistics operating in the transportation of aid & relief, medical supplies, out-of-gauge cargo, and an domestic and international courier business.

The support provided by our established, and knowledgeable parent company has allowed Peters & May to grow and develop a worldwide network to ensure the highest quality of service to its customers.


Our History

Peters & May was founded in Reading in 1973.  The first shipping agent to be based outside a major port in Southern England it quickly expanded and set up strategic branch offices at Heathrow and Southampton. 

In the early 1980s, Peters & May entered the leisure marine industry when it was contracted to provide race logistics to the growing number of global yachting events.  Prestige races such as The Whitbread Round The World Race and The America’s Cup, as well as individual race boat campaigns identified the professionalism and skills offered by the company and its team. 

Throughout the 80s the company continued to increase its presence in the leisure marine industry.  It worked with the UK ‘Big Four’ of Fairline, Princess, Sealine and Sunseeker, whose own businesses were expanding into Europe and needing experienced shipping agents to undertake boat transportation.  

In April 1989 the company was subject to a Management Buyout and Southampton became the company’s headquarters.  The following decade saw continual growth to meet the demands of the increasing global reach of leisure marine shipping and Peters & May consolidated its worldwide position.

In 2003 to support its yacht racing logistics business Peters & May Valencia was opened in 2003.  A year later in 2004, a joint venture was set up with one of Australia’s leading freight forwarders, Dean Sharples to establish Peters & May Australia.  During these early years of 2000-2004, the company realised that to become a truly global operator it needed to explore other avenues of business growth to be able to fulfil its strategic goals. 

Thus in December 2005, Peters & May was purchased by private investment company, Constantine Group, who provided an environment of long-term investment and financial strength which in turn has allowed the company the opportunity to extend its planning horizon. Jan Rydgren-Knudsen was brought in as Global CEO for Peters & May.

With the support and backing of Constantine, recent years have seen strong global expansion for Peters & May.  In July 2007, it took a majority stake in US company Air & Ocean Shipping Inc (subsequently renamed Peters & May USA Inc in 2008).  Peters & May Germany was set up in Hamburg in January 2008 and the Peters & May France office was opened in Nice in December 2008. 

In May 2009, the company saw an opportunity to strengthen its presence in the international yacht racing circuit with the acquisition of Complete Freight, whose founding directors Angus Bruce Jones and Simon Judson, together with their staff became wholly absorbed into the Peters & May global operation. Angus Bruce Jones became Managing Director of Peters & May in June 2010.

As an ongoing business strategy to further enhance global operations, Peters & May has created exclusive agencies wherever partnership opportunities have been identified.  These include LAP Marine in South East Asia and Pronto Clearing in Cape Town, South Africa.  Coinciding with the acquisition of Complete Freight in May 2009 was the creation of an exclusive agency agreement with Oceanbridge Shipping Ltd of New Zealand. More recently, exclusive regional agency agreements have been made with 3L-Leemark Logistics Ltd, Real Link Logistics, and CSS Logistics.
The company currently ships 8,000 vessels through more than 150 ports in over 60 countries.