Hellmann Worldwide Logistics UK’s commercial director, Matthew Marriott, is to head the company’s local air freight product.

The UK role represents a change in focus for Marriott, who previously headed up road freight, and contract logistics.

Marriott said: “Stepping into the air freight side of the business is a change of direction for me and one that I’m embracing with open arms.”

He added: “While our outlook for the rest of 2014 is conservative, I’m confident that, with a few subtle changes, we will start to see the benefits in the short term, and am whole heartedly looking forward to the challenge.”

Hellmann’s air freight product in the UK saw an 11 per cent increase in revenues for the first quarter of the current financial year, while gross profit increased by a similar amount. The actual revenue figures were not released by the privately held logistics operator, which is headquartered in Germany.

The result also revealed that while shipment tonnage grew, the actual shipment count dropped, suggesting a trend towards larger consignments.