A Kent company has won a prestigious national award at the Freight Transport Association (FTA) Logistics Awards 2018.

Rochester-based GPS Marine Contractors was named Sea Freight Operator of the Year at the awards, held at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London.

Presented by TV presenter and comedian Dara O Briain, more than 400 representatives from across the freight sector attended.

The awards celebrate the companies and individuals who have made a significant contribution to the logistics and supply industry during the past 12 months.

Managing director of GPS Marine, John Spencer, said: “Having had no expectation at all of winning the award, my team and I were stunned but delighted that our years of commitment and endeavour and our investment in our sector has been recognised and rewarded by our peers. I am immensely proud of my team and grateful to the FTA.

“Having been told by the then Port of London Harbour Master (Lower District) in the early 1990s that barge traffic on the Thames was gone forever and even having felt myself until the early 2000s that freight transport by barge on the Thames was the ultimate sunset industry, my team and I have often felt that we were swimming against a full spring ebb tide. Subsequent appreciation of the vast economic, social and environmental benefits of river freight on the Thames by planners, utilities and the construction majors encouraged us to develop and invest heavily in our business.”

GPS Marine has responded to a massive increase in demand triggered by major central London infrastructure developments and associated environmental concerns, by investing £4.8million in a fleet of 10 leading edge hopper barges. The company has taken millions of tonnes cargo from the streets of London for projects such as Canary Wharf, CrossRail, Thames Gateway and the Northern Line Extension and transferred that freight onto the River Thames. Transport of cargo in these large parcel sizes is safer and cheaper with far less harmful emissions and environmental impact than road transport.