Scaling While Prioritising Customer Service: The Constellation Blueprint – Abhy Maharaj, CCO

I’ve spent my career working in businesses that are undergoing major transformations, including the airline, dairy, and cold storage industries. Despite unique challenges across these sectors, the fundamental principles of successful expansion remain the same: scale up, innovate, and always put the customer at the centre of everything you do.

That might sound obvious – but you’d be surprised. Once a business begins to grow, it’s not uncommon for customers’ day-to-day needs to fall by the wayside. Ironically, this tends to be what stifles sustainable growth.

One of the reasons I came onboard at Constellation was because their team’s vision was never about becoming the largest cold logistics provider – it is about delivering the best service through strategic expansion, cutting-edge innovation and, most importantly, a deep understanding of their customers’ needs. 

As we continue to grow and deliver an even better service for our customers, I wanted to take the opportunity to outline the Constellation blueprint, as I see it: one that doesn’t pitch growth and customer service against one another, but sees how strategic expansion can benefit our existing customers, and is, in turn, driven by their needs. 

Strategic Expansion: Growing with Purpose

What does it mean for a business to grow with purpose? It’s about understanding that growth isn’t just about increasing capacity – at Constellation, it’s about strengthening our infrastructure, improving efficiency, and enhancing customer service.

Those foundations have already been laid. In 2024 alone, the network expanded through acquisitions such as those in Denmark and Ireland, while also expanding at existing sites – our 18,500-pallet expansion in Nijkerk is a perfect example. 

These projects allow Constellation to grow and expand into new markets, and for existing customers to grow with the business at the same time, as well as benefiting from cross-Network knowledge sharing and greater investment in customised solutions that best meet their needs. 

That growth-fuelled knowledge sharing is where the second part of our blueprint comes in: innovation. 

Innovation: Leveraging Technology to Lead the Market

Innovative technology is at the core of Constellation. Our investments in automation, such as the developments in Wolverhampton and planned advancements in Belgium, are setting new industry benchmarks, while innovative solutions like plate freezing and high-density racking systems are driving efficiency, reliability, and sustainability across the Constellation network.

Given the level of investment required for best-in-class technology and analytics, scale and financial backing have a crucial role to play. By leveraging these advancements, we’re able to offer our customers more efficient, reliable, and cost-effective cold storage solutions.

There are, however, other businesses that understand both strategic expansion and have the capital to invest in innovative technology. What makes Constellation different is the network’s structure – which enables the clusters across the business to deeply understand and address local customer needs. 

Understanding Customer Needs: Empowered Local Decision-Making

Companies thrive when they deeply understand their customers’ pain points. This can naturally become more difficult the larger a business gets. Many large businesses centralise decision-making at a corporate level, distancing leadership from customers. We do things differently.

Our cluster-based operating model empowers local teams across the UK & Ireland, BENEFR, and the Nordics to make decisions that directly benefit their customers. This allows us to offer tailored, market-specific solutions that outpace the competition. By keeping decision-making closer to the customer, we can build stronger relationships, respond faster, and provide a truly customer-centric service.

We aim to extend this model to new customers, growing our network while maintaining a focus on our existing partnerships. Ultimately, our expansion will strengthen the service we offer and allow us to meet our customers’ evolving needs.

Sustainable Growth: Scaling the Right Way

Looking ahead to 2025, Constellation’s expansion isn’t just about acquiring new businesses – it’s about enhancing what we already have. Major investments, like our 100,000-pallet expansion in the UK and 50,000-pallet expansion in the Nordics will ensure our infrastructure keeps pace with demand. Beyond physical expansion, however, we’re deeply committed to becoming a more analytical, digital, and data-driven organisation, optimising operations and delivering even better service.

Constellation has grown quickly, but we’re focused on stabilising that growth with a strong, sustainable foundation. Our priority remains providing exceptional service to our existing customers, ensuring that as we scale, they continue to benefit from the highest standards in cold storage logistics.

Driving the Future of Cold Storage

At Constellation, we’re not just building a logistics network – we’re redefining an industry. Backed by EQT and with a customer-first mindset, we’re driving the next wave of transformation in European cold storage. Growth isn’t just about scale – it’s about growing in the right way: sustainably, strategically, and always with our customers at the heart of everything we do.

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