ISSUE 1 2011


ScOTLANd Diversity is the key to prosperity


Independent freight forwarders are becoming rare in Scotland, as they are in most parts of the country, “but there are still a few of us left” says T. Ward Shipping managing director, Nigel Souter. “Mind you, although we still do a lot of forwarding it is becoming a lower percentage of our business. We have also moved into other areas likes ships’ agency and broking”. T. Ward has also got


involved in selling secondhand containers and even railway sleepers. But on the forwarding side, there are still customers who value the genuine independent, including some large multinational firms. “We recently revamped our website,” Nigel Souter continues, “and we now get calls from some extraordinary places, both for imports and exports. I actually like dealing with the more


Scotland looks for export independence


Scotland’s enterprise minister Jim Mather is arguing that the devolved government urgently needs full financial powers if it is to boost global exports and achieve long term sustained economic growth. Scotland has just negotiated a trade deal with China, completed on 12 January, but the minister said that still sluggish export growth showed that the country’s recovery was still fragile and Scottish companies still faced problems in competing globally. He said: “The figures underline that Scotland needs full powers of real financial responsibility so the Scottish


Government and Parliament have all the tools needed to drive up our support for exporting business, sustain growth and put Scotland on the path to long-term economic success.” He added that UK national government spending cuts threatened Scotland’s recovery. Scottish Development International helped over 900 companies enter new international markets


during 2009-10 and that more resources were being invested to help thousands of firms across Scotland to internationalise through the £7.6 million Smart Exporter project.


complicated enquiries – and also helping businesses that are perhaps exporting for the first time.”


Exports might be higher were


it not for the steep decline in Scottish manufacturing in the past couple of decades, although there are signs that it is making a slight recovery. T. Ward used to move a lot whisky exports, but while this is still big business for Scotland as a whole, the margins


are now too low to make it attractive to a freight forwarder except for a few niche markets like Russia. There is also something of a


revival in the small coaster bulk trade in Scotland, says Nigel Souter. There is for instance a reasonable traffic in high quality aggregates to the Continent and there are an increasing number of enquiries for other types of traffic too. While many of the


enquiries tend to remain just that, there is something of a shift from road transport to sea for many types of traffic as trucking costs rise and congestion increases. “It used to be that you would quote for the shipping, but when the stevedoring and haulage from the port was added, it was no longer attractive, but that is changing now. And there are ships and ports available, although the number of very small coasters is diminishing and they’re becoming more difficult to find.” Shipowners have tended to


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replace older smaller ships with supposedly more efficient, larger vessels but the sub-1000 tonne ships are useful in competing for cargoes that might otherwise go by road and also get into a much wider range of ports along the Scottish coast. T. Ward also handles an increasing amount of ships’ agency work. At one time, it was thought that this business would diminish, with increasing use of email and the internet but stricter security requirements and compulsory light dues have actually led to a revival.


Rail groups to fight grant cuts


The Rail Freight Group (RFG) and sustainable transport alliance Transform Scotland have launched a campaign against Scottish Government plans to abolish Freight Facilities Grants (FFG) in its Draft Budget Statement. The matter was debated in the Scottish Parliament on 13 January. RFG argues that FFGs are vital to increase


modal shift and that scrapping them works against the Scottish Government’s own environmental objectives. The RFG’s new Scottish representative David


Spaven, said: “The retention of the successful FFG scheme is absolutely critical to shifting more freight from road to rail in Scotland. We strongly urge the Scottish Government to ensure that


the country does not lose out on the widespread economic and environmental benefits which FFGs deliver.” Colin Howden, director of Transform Scotland,


added: “The Government has strenuous targets to meet on climate change, and the decision to scrap FFG puts its commitment to these in doubt. Rail freight is three times more energy-efficient than road haulage, and there are clear carbon benefits from getting heavy freight off the roads.” RFG chairman Tony Berkeley has also written


letters of support to the motion, pointing out in a letter to Alison McInnes MSP, the Liberal Democrats’ transport spokesperson, that the future growth of many rail freight flows would be put at risk.


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