Our Mission
Our mission is simple: ‘Delivering Your Promises.’ This tagline reflects our core values of trust, reliability, and service. We believe in working closely with our customers to build lasting partnerships and provide solutions that stand the test of time. At the heart of our success are our people – they are our greatest asset. Their dedication reinforces our core values, ensuring we deliver promises to you every time.
Vision
Our Vision is to be the partner of choice for sustainable road, rail and warehousing solutions. We strive to lead the way in delivering efficient, innovative, and environmentally responsible logistics services. By investing in cutting-edge technologies and fostering long-term relationships with our clients, we aim to create a future where supply chains are not only highly effective but also environmentally friendly.
Our Company in Numbers
55
Years of Experience
250
Vehicles
£90m
turnover in 2024
820+
employees
1m+
warehousing space
2040
Net Zero by
14
Depots and UK rail terminals
OUR VALUES
Partnership
We value our long-term partnerships with our employees, customers, and partners, working closely together to deliver innovative and sustainable solutions for today and for the future.
People
Our people have been at the heart of our business since 1969. Their passion, dedication and experience help us deliver our customers' promises every day. We strive to ensure they feel valued and part of our inclusive culture.
Environment
We value sustainability and the protection of our environment. Therefore, we have pledged to be Net Zero by 2040 through implementing decarbonisation strategies in line with the Paris Agreement and neutralising any remaining emissions with additional, quantifiable, real, permanent, and socially beneficial offsets.
Safety
Our tagline ‘Think, Act, Home Safe' promotes our positive safety culture, ensuring our people arrive to a safe working environment each day and go home safe each night. Our Health and Safety leadership team use collaborative communication and training to ensure our teams are consistently driving towards safety.
OUR HISTORY
The company was brought to life in 1969 by our Chairman, John Russell. Having already gained a wealth of experience working for his father’s company, John launched the company with just 14 employees and 12 vehicles.
1969-1970’S
In 1969, John G Russell (Transport) Ltd was founded by John Russell and was based in Coatbridge.
In 1970, Russell moved from Coatbridge to Gartcosh. Russell had a mixed fleet of artics that moved steel and milk floats doing bottled milk deliveries.
In 1970, Russell opened a Maintenance & Repair facility and began their involvement within the Container Industry.
In 1972, Carntyne was purchased by the Russell family and ran a mixture of two and three axle tipper vehicles from the East end of Glasgow. The company serviced local Iron and Steel works by removing blast furnace slag for use in road construction.
In 1974, given the demise of the Clyde Iron Works, John Russell decided to expand operations into the distilling industry and purchased a Crown Locked Van approved for use by Customs and Excise. The vehicle was put to work for the Scottish Grain Distillers in Edinburgh, now part of Diageo plc.
In 1978, Russell added a rail connection from the adjacent running line into the site at Gartcosh. Russell started running open top containers on a daily train from Cumbria to Gartcosh for Ravenscraig.
In 1979, Russell bought RD Spittal Ltd & Storage Services Ltd.
1980’S
In 1981, Russell added general warehousing/distribution to its services.
In 1983, Russell acquired Deanside Transit Ltd in Hillington and opened their second rail terminal in Hillington and in 1984/85 opened their 3rd and 4th terminals in Inverness and Aberdeen.
In the early ‘80s, Carntyne purchased four stainless steel tankers to transfer quantities of bulk spirit from distillery to cask. Steady development of business through distilling and brewery customers led to a fleet of approximately 25 vehicles and 80 trailers by the mid-late 80’s. At the time, the work was undertaken for the Distillers Company Ltd, renamed United Distillers and now Diageo.
In 1985 Russell added bonded warehousing to its Hillington operation.
1990’S
In 1990, Russell opened its 5th rail terminal in Grantham.
In 1991, intermodal rail transport was introduced and in 1993, Russell opened their International Transport Department.
In 1993, Russell’s Contract Packing operation opened, introducing value added services.
In 1994, Carntyne Transport strengthened its operations with the acquisition of local transport company McKechnie Motors Ltd of Girvan, Ayrshire.
2000’S
In 2002, Carntyne Transport further strengthened its offering with the purchase of Tomatin based transport company W&F Kelly Ltd.
In 2004, Russell opened their trailer manufacturing division to build and refurbish vehicles and trailers.
In 2008, three further rail terminals were opened at Telford, Barking and Inverness. Russell also purchased the Coatbridge depot.
2010’S
In 2011, Russell’s engineering department opened a VOSA test bay.
In 2012, Russell’s Coatbridge tank wash was opened.
In 2015, Russell opened the Daventry rail freight terminal, in partnership with Sainsbury’s.
In 2018, Russell invested in a 265,000 sq. ft. warehouse facility to accommodate the company’s continued business growth. The newly purchased warehouse, situated in Cumbernauld, Glasgow, has added value to our existing warehousing and distribution solutions.
In 2019, Russell Hillington gained our HMRC AEO approved status.
2020'S
In 2024, the Group acquired Freightliner Coatbridge Rail Terminal and a new trading entity was formed, Russell RailRoad Ltd.
In 2025, we are one of the top 100 leading companies in Scotland, with over £90m revenue, 820+ employees and a fleet of 250 vehicles.
This year we are celebrating 55 years of the company.