This is an illustrative example of the form an entry takes in The Owners’ Index. It is not a real listing. Edition I opens with verified entries only.
Annette Carlyle
Carlyle Holdings (Caledonia) Ltd · Glasgow, Scotland · Founded 2008
Acquired three failing regional hauliers between 2014 and 2019, restructured them under a single Glasgow holding company, and runs the combined operation today at 412 staff, £68m revenue, and the lowest accident rate of any UK logistics group in its size band for four consecutive years.
Carlyle started as a fleet controller at a Scottish brewery in 1994 and bought her first lorry in 2008. The acquisitions were not glamorous: two of the three target companies were in pre-pack administration and the third was being wound down by the founder's children. Each one came with redundancies she handled personally over a six-week window before any other change.
She is unusual among acquirers in the sector for never having issued a non-disclosure agreement to a departing employee, and for publishing the group's accident statistics monthly on the company's site. The Index notes this not as virtue-signalling but as a load-bearing operational choice: drivers refer drivers, and the referral network is now the primary recruiting channel.
412 staff. £68m turnover. 187 vehicles. Lowest accident rate in size band 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025.
- 251–1,000 staff
- £50m–£100m turnover
- Sector: Logistics