Simon Reed

Chief Executive Simarco International Ltd

Last Reviewed: September 29, 2026

Executive Summary

Simon Reed is the founder and Chief Executive of Simarco International, an independent British freight and logistics business headquartered in Witham, Essex. He has worked in logistics and supply chain for more than 40 years, starting straight from school as a trainee on American container services, and in 1997 formed Simarco with a colleague to provide freight forwarding to Europe. Nearly three decades on, the company describes itself as one of the UK’s leading independent European road freight operators, running eight sites across the UK and offering road, air and ocean freight and warehousing. Reed has been a director of the operating company since May 1997 and remains in charge, with a Managing Director running the business alongside him.

Career Highlights

• Chief Executive of Simarco International Ltd, which he founded with a colleague in 1997; a director of the company continuously since 19 May 1997, according to Companies House.
• Began his career at 17 as a trainee working on East and West Coast American container services.
• Grew Simarco from two staff at founding to 302 staff and anticipated sales of £55 million by the end of 2018, according to the company’s 2017 anniversary announcement.
• Expanded by acquisition in 2017, buying two other UK freight specialists, and opened a London office in the same year.
• Built a network of eight UK sites serving a global customer base with European road freight, air freight, ocean freight and warehousing.

Professional Journey

Reed left school at 17 and went into shipping as a trainee, working on East and West Coast American container services. It was the start of a career that has stayed within freight and supply chain for more than four decades.

In 1997 he and a colleague formed Simarco International to provide freight forwarding to Europe. The company was incorporated in March 1997 and Reed was appointed a director that May; it started with two staff. Its core became European groupage and road freight — consolidating loads from many shippers onto trucks running between the UK and the continent — and it later added air freight, ocean freight and third-party warehousing, including e-commerce fulfilment.

By its twentieth anniversary in 2017 the business had grown substantially. The company announced that year that it had acquired two other UK freight specialists and opened a new London office, and that it expected sales to reach £55 million by the end of 2018 with 302 people on its payroll. Reed used the anniversary to set a target of doubling turnover within three years, and addressed the uncertainty of Brexit directly, arguing that a network of clients, partners and depots spanning Europe and beyond would let Simarco “cope with whatever might arise”. He also talked about apprenticeships and the idea of a Simarco academy for people entering the freight industry.

Simarco is held through Simarco Holdings Limited, of which Reed is also a director. He continues as Chief Executive, with Trevor Scott as Managing Director since 2015 and a senior team that includes long-serving operations leaders.

Education

The company says he left school at 17 to begin his career. No further education was found.