Company profile

The Peters & May journey…

Peters & May was founded in Reading in 1973 and was the first shipping agent to be based outside of a major port in Southern England. Peters & May quickly expanded, setting 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. These events included the prestigious Whitbread Round The World Race and The America’s Cup, as well as individual racing yacht campaigns, all of which identified the professionalism and skills offered by Peters & May. 

In line with its marine logistics focus, Peters & May appointed agents in key locations, including Antigua Yacht Services in the Caribbean, Masterpiece International in Newport, Rhode Island, and Pronto Clearing in Cape Town, South Africa.

Throughout the 1980s the company continued to increase its presence in the leisure marine industry, working with the UK ‘Big Four’ of Fairline, Princess, Sealine and Sunseeker; whose own businesses were expanding into Europe and required experienced shipping agents to undertake boat transportation of their premium brands.

In April 1989 the company was subject to a Management Buyout and Southampton was chosen as 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 by appointing strong management teams and creating new owned offices at strategic global locations. 

During the years 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 fulfill its strategic goals. Therefore, in December 2005, Peters & May was purchased by private investment company, Constantine Group, who have provided an environment of long-term investment and financial strength, which in turn has allowed the company the opportunity to extend its planning horizon.

With the support and backing of Constantine, recent years have seen major global expansion for Peters & May.  In July 2007, it took a majority stake in US company, and since has acquired it entirely, Air & Ocean Shipping Inc (subsequently renamed Peters & May USA Inc in 2008), which was headed by the current CEO David Holley, who was then Managing Director of the US operations.  Peters & May Spain was set up in 2007 and the Peters & May France office was opened 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. The strong racing logistics element further complimented Peters & May’s offerings, resulting in the business consistently providing services to the majority of the leading key racing teams.

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, Intertransport in Italy and Aurora Logistics in Australia to name but a few. 

In 2010 Angus Bruce Jones, following the successful integration of Complete Freight into Peters & May, was appointed Managing Director for Peters & May, assuming responsibility for the company’s global, non-US operations.

In 2010 the Peters & May USA Inc’s head office relocated to larger premises in Itasca, and opened a new owned office in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The US operation also launched a new sub-brand in this year, namely Peters & May Racing, which is focused on powerboat racing, subsequently resulting in its appointment as the Official Transport Provider for key racing organisations including H1 Unlimited, the QMSF and Powerboat P1.

Also in 2010, Peters & May appointed Rapid Transit Services as its dedicated office in Palma, Spain and CSS in Dubai, UAE covering the Middle East.

Peters & May was appointed Official Logistics Provider to Sunseeker International in 2008, Preferred Transportation Partner to Griffon Hoverworks in 2010 and the UIM’s (Union Internationale Motonautique) Preferred Logistics Provider in 2011, having earned the first ever accreditation from the UIM.

In October 2010 Peters & May opened its Hong Kong office, with Thibaut de Montvalon heading up the operation as MD, having relocated following the his success establishing Peters & May’s french office. Also in this year Burevestnik Group’s Logistics Department BG were appointed as Peters & May’s exclusive agent for the Russian region.

In March 2011, David Holley was appointed CEO of the Peters & May global group of companies.

Two further business sit within the Peters & May Group, namely CEC Couriers and Peters & May Global Logistics, both of which compliment the services offered by Peters & May.