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Issue 4 2014 - Freight Business Journal


///SCOTLAND


A new era north of the border


The next few months promise to be a momentous time in Scotland’s history. First, in July, there is the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, which promises to put this country of just 5.3 million on a global stage. Then, in September, Scots go to the polls to vote on whether to break away from the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, though, it is business as usual in the freight industry. More than anywhere else in the country, forwarders in Scotland are finding that it pays to specialise.


Fresh energy for east coast forwarder


Leith-based forwarder T. Ward specialises in shipping for the energy sector, in all its various guises – both traditional oil and gas and renewables – and the most exciting news for some time is a scheme to transform the former coal fired Cockenzie Power station into an ‘energy park’. The site, to the east of


Edinburgh could be used to construct offshore windmills or the equipment used to generate electricity from wave power, or for oil and gas platform word, explains T. Ward managing director, Nigel Souter. In many ways it would be an ideal location, he says. “It’s got good water access – there is a jetty that was formerly used to bring in oil supplies to the power station - it’s well sheltered, road access is good and there is a rail connection. It’s got huge promise.”


Scottish Enterprise is currently


looking for expressions of interest. One advantage of this ‘blue


water’ site is that it could cater for the expected increase in the beam of vessels carrying offshore wind turbines as the turbines themselves get bigger. At the moment, there is no UK port capable of handling such wide ships and the Cockenzie site would be a competitor to mooted schemes such as Able UK’s Immingham facility. The site itself is around 200 acres. “It’s very exciting,”


Souter


enthuses. “The number of wind turbines that could be needed is mind-boggling.” There is a caveat. Energy is


a very political issue and, as renewables are currently heavily subsidised, a lot depends on the whims of politicians. If the industry is to thrive, it will need a long-term political commitment, and subsidies are always vulnerable to government cut- backs. But there will always be


demand for energy and, however it is produced, Scottish forwarders will service the industry in all its forms. Meanwhile, more traditional


forms of energy - oil and gas - are keeping the local harbour at Leith busy. It has been handling


Independence Day


Scots vote in a referendum on whether to break away from the rest of the United Kingdom on 18 September this year. Opinions vary in the freight industry, but the majority of forwarders would not welcome an independent Scotland, especially if


it means leaving


the Pound and not being able to immediately


to join the


European Union. In the latter event, the idea of queues of trucks waiting to cross the border at Gretna Green is a little far-fetched; but as with countries like Switzerland and Norway, it would mean customs


entries, preference certificates and all the paraphernalia of trade outside the European Union and it certainly would be an impediment to business. One Glasgow forwarder said to us: “If we end up outside the EU, we’re moving our office to Carlisle. Yes, things would be that bad.”


Scotland’s colourful carrier


Edinburgh is ideal for energy firms, says T. Ward’s Nigel Souter


ships that would normally go into Aberdeen, but which have been unable to because of weather or port congestion. “And we’ve also done a lot of work with rigs and jack-up platforms.” Last year was quiet for T. Ward’s


forwarding activities, but there has been a sharp upturn in 2014, Souter adds. A ‘coals to Newcastle’ traffic has emerged in the shape of timber exports from Scotland to the Baltics – apparently, the longer grain length of Scots- grown timber is more suited for some processing operations than timber from the Baltics themselves. Much of the traffic sails out of west coast Scottish ports on


small 3,500-tonne


coasters. There is also a brisk trade in


refuse derived fuel (RDF) from all parts of the UK to the Continent.


The grey tarmac of Scotland’s main roads and motorways are set to become a little brighter, thanks to central Scotland-based transport and distribution firm, Bullet Express. Not only has the carrier has designed a swish new livery for its tractors and trailers, but it has ‘colour coded’ the new design in red, yellow, blue and green versions. Some


of the vehicles in


the Bullet fleet will also carry billboards for the charities that the company supports: Macmillan Cancer Care, Mary’s Meals - which works in Africa – and Cash for Kids. Business is going well, says managing director Dave


McCutcheon: “We recently completed a new loading canopy at its depot at Bothwell, south of Glasgow, and installed a full scanning system.” Bullet is the local member


of the Pallex pallet distribution network as well as


handling


Scottish distribution for Europa, the company recently bought by former RH Freight boss, Andrew Baxter. The only issue facing Bullet, says


McCutcheon, is that, in common with most Scots hauliers, “we ship a lot of fresh air down south.” Scottish hauliers have the opposite problem to the container shipping industry, who have the problem of getting empty boxes into Scotland to move the country’s overseas exports. But as far as Anglo- Scottish transport is concerned, Scotland is overwhelmingly an import market.


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