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Issue 6 2015 - Freight Business Journal


///FREIGHT BREAK Freight CAN be cool


When family-owned forwarder Soton Freight based in Totton, Southampton needed to move to larger premises, it wasn’t satisfied with any old shed. Not only does its new premises offer 19,000sq ſt of freight handling space, but its boasts a unique interior provided by office fit-out specialists, Space & Solutions. Creative use of old containers reflects not only the industry, but the company’s core values, says managing director, Ross Negus. To be frank, the exterior of the


building is nothing special; it’s what’s inside that has the wow factor. As the presentation for the new offices explains, Soton Freight and its interior designers “have created a facility to not only


Full circle in Felixstowe


We think of the Port of Felixstowe as the birthplace of containerisation in the UK, but the place actually started out as a ro ro terminal – 50 years ago, in 1965, when DFDS launched a weekly service to Copenhagen. Ownership and patterns of services have gone through many different changes since then, but today the main regular ro ro operator is once again...DFDS, now operating three sailings per day from Felixstowe to Rotterdam. The anniversary was marked in July by a reception


for guests and local dignitaries followed by a visit to the Suecia Seaways at the port’s Dooley Terminal. The event was also attended by retired employees who have worked at the terminals over the last 50 years. While the container business has mushroomed


around it, the ro ro terminal has been quietly doing its job. The first vessel, the 2,760 ton Gaelic Ferry, called at the port’s then new No.1 Ro/Ro Bridge on 12 July 1965, at the dawn of the roll on, roll off era. That first service to Rotterdam was operated by Transport Ferry Service, the trading name of the Atlantic Steam Navigation Company (ASN), loading 34 lorries and


around 80 BMC cars. ASN was acquired by the European Ferries group,


the operators of Townsend Thoresen ferries, in 1971 and five years later, in 1976, European Ferries also bought the Port of Felixstowe itself. The port, and the ferry company, was subsequently


sold to P&O and the ferry company renamed P&O European Ferries. P&O’s ferry services from the port continued until 2002, and the route ended up in the hands of Norfolk Line – which was subsequently sold to DFDS. Other ferry services that have operated from the


port over the last 50 years include Sealink, Tor Line, Fred Olsen and Finanglia.


The Tour must go on...


A 35-year tradition cycling tradition is continuing –


give


or take a company logo. XPO Logistics, which has just taken over French transporter Norbert


Dentressangle, will continue the latter’s status as official carrier of Tour de France. In servicing Le Tour for the 35th consecutive year,


XPO Logistics has committed to transport 22 tonnes of equipment with a dedicated team of nearly 50 company trucks and drivers.


provide an efficient operating space, but a space that is an absolute pleasure to work in. “In addition to this, there were


other requests made to the designer, to incorporate industry elements into the building, and bring a sense of what Southampton Freight Services is really about - and what we really do as a company. So the team and the Negus family worked


Des res


Actually, Soton Freight could be even more cutting-edge than they realise. A recent article we read on the TalkTalk website listed 15 different developments around the world based on the humble shipping container – homes, retail parks, offices and even adventure playgrounds. UK examples include the


Boxpark retail development in the trendy Shoreditch area of London (soon to be joined by another in not-so-trendy Croydon, south London) and the Snoozebox hotel near Silverstone in Northamptonshire. Another website,


Fastcodesign, revealed an audacious plan by CRG


Architects to replace Mumbai’s Dharavi Slum with a swirling tower block made from a stack of 2,344 containers of various sizes to house about 5,000 people. “But most amazingly, it looks like somewhere you might actually want to live,” it enthuses. Now that really would be a breakthrough in public housing.


Fun on the docks


A classroom of Year 5 school kids recently got a chance to see the food supply chain from start to finish, courtesy of Associated British Ports Grimsby. The port operator hosted a visit by 17 pupils from the town’s Strand Primary Academy to help them learn about where their food comes from and how it starts on the farm and ends up on our fork. As well as a VIP tour of the ports of Grimsby and


Immingham, the journey of discovery included Grimsby Fish Market, including watching a haddock being filleted and a close encounter with a lobster. In the aſternoon, the children toured the Port


of Immingham where they visited Immingham Container Terminal, learning about which products are brought into the dock in containers and then went on to the Immingham Bulk Park, to learn about fertiliser, cane sugar and animal feed. ABP purchasing assistant and Humber and Strand


Primary governor, Richard Claridge, organised the visit. He said: “The trip really seems to have sparked the imagination of the whole group and many of the children said that they wanted to work on the docks when they grew up.” Pupil Zara, 10 said: “When we set off this morning, I


thought Grimsby dock was a bit boring but now that I’ve been, I thought it was so much fun.”


tirelessly for several months to come up with a design that would do all of the above, plus allow for expansion, create efficiency and calmness, and provide us with a wonderful environment to invite our clients, partners and suppliers to visit.” In an industry where dog-eared


old carpet tiles and grubby grey plastic panelling are the norm, truly a breath of fresh air.


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