About Container Sales (UK) Ltd
We have a clear set of working principles - innovation, investment, simplicity and honouring our promises. From our headquarters in the North East of England we have applied our values to become the premier independent supplier to the UK container industry.
Innovation
We set up the business in 2002 in order to source used containers for the international storage company now known as Mobile Mini. In that year "one-way" containers began arriving from China. Newly manufactured, they were packed with cargo bound for the UK. Once unloaded these containers became available for sale, being classified as "new-build".
Having worked their passage, they cost considerably less than new containers shipped empty and less than half the price of anything manufactured in the UK. Quick to recognise this advantage, we led the way in acquiring large stocks of these containers to sell on.
Investment
Our business model was, and still is, the capability to supply new-build containers directly to the customers' sites nationwide, in whatever type and quantity they want. The only way to fulfil our promises and deliver this service successfully is to have ownership and control of enough containers to meet all contingencies.
At any one time we hold stock worth around £2 million - large and resilient enough to cope with any demand, for example: an order for 200 containers to transport a dismantled petrochemical plant; or for 500 containers to store fireworks at retail outlets nationwide.
For back-up we can call upon resources of Maersk, the world's largest container shipping line, and their UK logistics partner, Pentalver. We are Pentalver's largest trade partner for both newbuild and used containers. In addition, we've invested massively in depot space, such as the five acre sites at Cumbernauld and Gateshead.
Simplicity
Although we are a big name in the container industry we are surprisingly lean. We don't refurbish or convert containers. Instead, we entrust non-core functions to companies with whom we have long-term alliances, such as Pentalver and Universal Containers. We simply concentrate on buying, stocking, selling and delivering our containers from depots at whichever of our key locations is the nearest to you, namely: Cumbernauld, Coatbridge, Grangemouth, Newcastle, Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Immingham, Birmingham, Cardiff, Felixstowe, London Tilbury, London Gateway and Southampton. Keeping things simple allows us to consistently keep prices competitive, our service responsive...and honour our promises. Container Sales (UK) Ltd.
Meet the Team
With a combination of over 100 years experience in the Container industry, the Team Members of Container Sales (UK) Ltd are fully equipped to provide you with all the assistance you're ever likely to need.
Keith Wilson: Keith brings the benefit of 35 years experience in the container industry, having started out buying and selling containers, aged 18, on Sunderland Docks. In 1991 he established Container Sales & Hire Ltd, which had depots in Sunderland, Manchester, Wakefield and Birmingham. It was acquired in 2000 by MSG now known as Mobile Mini Inc. In the year Keith co-founded Container Sales (UK) Ltd, 2002, the first new PTLU containers began to arrive from China built specially for resale. Realising their endless possibilities, Keith changed the business model to be in the forefront of the revolution in container sales which has developed ever since.
Carl Hedley: Carl has been working in the container business since leaving school in 1996. He joined the company which became Ravenstock MSG and gained experience at depots in Gateshead and Sunderland and MSG's Los Angeles HQ. In 2004 he became Depot Manager at Heysham and then later Middlesbrough, before joining us in 2007 as Container Sales Manager, becoming a Director in 2014. Carl is an avid golfer, plays cricket and enjoys eating out and cooking in. He lives with wife Hayley - also a container professional - his five year old daughter and fourteen year old son in Washington.
Ian Gibson: Ian joined Containers Sales (UK) Ltd as a Director in 2018 after previously working with Keith back in the early 80's on Sunderland Docks. Ian was Director of Logistics at the Port of Tyne from 2002 to 2015, having previously established the container terminal TLC (Tyne Logistics Company) in 1991. TLC was an integral part of the of the introduction of Containerisation at NMUK (Nissan Manufacturing UK) at their nearby plant in Sunderland. As Director of Logistics, Ian was responsible for all the container, warehousing and distribution for the Port of Tyne. A fanatical Newcastle United fan since the 1970's, Ian is a long-suffering Season Ticket holder at St. James' Park.
Claire Mounsey: Carl's sister Claire joined the team in October 2015, bringing with her 15 years experience as a branch manager for Thomas Cook. With our volume of work we are happily able to satisfy her need "to keep very busy." Indeed, her pet hate is laziness, so it's not surprising she teaches classes in the community as a qualified fitness instructor and puts of lot of energy into socialising. Married to Scott, they have two young sons and a cocker spaniel and live in Washington.
