40 Years of Carousel: Built around our clients, every step of the way

Our journey: Key milestones

1986 — The beginning: Carousel Logistics is founded in Sittingbourne, UK.

 

2008–11 — Diversifying with our clients: Carousel launches its agriculture distribution network and extends solutions into the MedTech sector, responding directly to emerging needs in new industries.

 

2016 — Expanding the network: The Birmingham HUB opens, and air linehaul is introduced on the FKB–BHX–DUB route, strengthening our time-critical capabilities across the UK, Germany, and Ireland.

 

2017–19 — Growing through acquisition: Carousel Logistics acquires Lsi GmbH, Lsi S.L, and BDA Logistics Innovation, extending our footprint and expertise across Southern and Central Europe.

 

2018 — Investing in technology: The Gateway® platform launches, giving clients greater visibility and control over their shipments.

 

2021 — Meeting a growing need: Our Customs Clearance service launches, helping clients navigate an increasingly complex post-Brexit trading environment.

 

2022 — A new chapter: DANX Group and Carousel Logistics merge, with Axcel coming on board as lead investor to form the DANX Carousel Group, bringing together complementary networks across Northern and Central Europe and the UK.

 

2023–25 — Scaling across Europe: Alltrans (Ireland), TBS (Norway), Fomab and UT (Sweden), TLS (Denmark), Logik (UK), and LPR (Germany) all join the DANX Carousel Group, and DANXILS launches in Poland as a joint venture with ILS, extending our reach right across the continent.

Voices from the business

Lars Ryssel, Carousel Managing Director “Looking back over the past 40 years, our trajectory reflects a deliberate strategy: every solution we’ve engineered, from our proprietary customer portal, Gateway®, and custom clearance to strategic acquisitions across Western Europe, stemmed directly from solving a client challenge. That consultative mindset has allowed us to scale pan-European operations while preserving our defining strength: engineering bespoke solutions around our clients’ needs.”

 

Andrew Lowery, Managing Director UK  “What strikes me looking back is how consistently our growth has followed our clients’ own evolution. When they expanded into new markets or faced new challenges, we developed and widen our network and capabilities to go with them. That responsiveness is in our DNA.”

 

Swen Krueger, Managing Director DACH, Iberia & CEE  “Joining forces with DANX in 2022 was about being able to offer clients a genuinely pan-European solution, without losing the local expertise and personal relationships that got us here.”

 

Michael McVey, Operations Director  “Forty years ago, Carousel started with a simple idea: be flexible enough to meet clients where they are and add value to their business. That idea still drives every commercial decision we make today. We don’t ask clients to fit our services, we build our services to fit their unique needs, becoming the partner that help them scale their reach.”

 

Tracy Morrison, Client Services Director  “Every milestone on this timeline started with a conversation, with a client telling us what they needed next. Our role has always been to listen closely, anticipate their evolving needs, and proactively engineer services they can rely on. Building strong relationships and staying one step ahead is what has set us apart. And forty years in that hasn’t changed, and in fact has become our identity.”

 

Walter Lehmann, Air Network & Operations Europe Director  “From our hubs expansion to our customs clearance service, every operational investment we’ve made has been in direct response to what our clients told us mattered most: speed, reliability, and simplicity. And that’s how we’ve grown for 40 years.”

 

Jen Harper, HR Director  “Every acquisition and every new market has meant welcoming new people into Team Carousel, people bringing their own expertise, experience and local knowledge. Forty years on, that’s still at the heart of who we are: a business built by people who care about doing the right thing for our clients. Growing the team thoughtfully, alongside our clients.”

 

Tim Deniz, DC Group Commercial Chief Officer  “Merging to form the DANX Carousel Group has allowed us to combine unmatched regional strengths into a seamless European network. For our clients, that means greater reach, higher reliability, and even more tailored end-to-end performance. Our core focus remains unchanged: we always aim to find new ways to unlock value for their supply chains, every day.”

 

Mohan Palaniandy, DC Group Chief Information Officer “Gateway® launched in 2018 as a way to give clients visibility over their shipments, but it’s never stood still since. Every enhancement we’ve made has come from client feedback, bringing more integrations, more real-time data, more control in their hands. Technology only matters if it solves a real problem for the people using it, and that’s exactly how we’ve built Gateway® from day one.”

 

Klaus Rud Sejling, DC Group CEO  “For forty years, Carousel has set the standard in time-critical logistics by listening to clients and delivering solutions with precision and dedication. By extending this foundation to bridge logistics across Europe, Carousel continues to elevate what it means to be a trusted partner, now backed by the combined power and reach of the DANX Carousel Group.”

 

Looking ahead

Forty years on, Carousel’s story is still about the clients who pushed us to build our network and service offering. As part of the DANX Carousel Group, we’re now more than ever equipped to keep listening, keep adapting, and keep growing alongside the businesses that trust us with their most time-critical logistics.

Here’s to the next 40 years of building it together.