SERVICES
SEA CARGO SERVICES, Yasmine House, Mayfield Business
Park, Cork. Tel: 021 4552000. www.seacargoservices.ie
Aseaof
change
ThebrainsbehindSeaCargo
Servicesbelieveininvestingstrongly
intechnology,andthecompanyhas
alsogarneredadiversenetworkof
partners
‘We spent a couple of years
writing our information
technology platform, based
on listening to customers.
It means there is visibility
on shipments the minute
a cargo is ready’
Graham Parker
C
ORK-based specialist deep-sea freight compa- in Ireland,” he explains. always make sure customers know the personal touch is
ny Sea Cargo Services believes in investing in “Suppliers in China can upload documents at the time there, in contrast to global, faceless corporations.
technology to drive its business forward and the shipment is loading and customers have access to all “It’s worth noting we have a young team compared to
— with close to 100pc year-on-year growth the details, which proves very useful in terms of manag- competitors.We’refansofGoogleandthewayittreatsits
since it started up in 2002 — it’s a belief that’s paying off. ing their stock levels.” workforce.Ideasareharvestedviaanopenforumandevery-
Turnover reached ¤21m in 2008, ahead of target. Business from China has continued to grow, with Sea bodygetsonwell,”hesays.Therearenow10peoplework-
“Ourmissionwastocarveoutanichebyprovidingavery Cargo Services looking after 10,000 containers coming in ing for the company in sales and marketing, finance and
high level of service to clients involved in deep-sea exports from that market and 6,000 going out in 2008. shipping roles.
and imports — out of Ireland to all ports in the world, and “A huge amountof consumer goods are coming in from Parker and joint managing director Yvonne Murphy
dealingwithallimporttrafficintothecountry.Wemakecus- China such as timber products, electrical goods and toys, had both worked in shipping for several years before
tomers’liveseasierbydeliveringcontainersinaseamlessand while manufactured goods like automotive parts, phar- deciding to set up this venture. Deep-sea freight grew in
flawless way, so they don’t have to worry about the supply maceuticals, meat, milk powder and waste paper are the popularity in its first five years and Parker is undeterred
chain,” says joint managing director Graham Parker. main exports with our containers,” says Parker. by the recession. “Nobody has officially said deep-sea
In2008,thecompanysignedupwithbroadbandprovider Import business has tended to be strong, and Sea Cargo freight has come down. World container trade has stag-
Strencomtohaveitsowndedicated3Mbpsbroadbandline, Services has built up its export portfolio generally, so there nated, but is expected to recover in 2010. Exporters and
representing an outlay of ¤20,000. is now a 68-32 split in favour of imports. The company has importersarelookingattheircostsatthemomentandwe’re
“We identified that broadband is very important to cus- worked with clients in 100 countries. One of the keys to its competitive. We’re consistently bringing in new business
tomers accessing our data. This means data from our globalsuccesshasbeenthenetworkofpartnersithasbuilt and referrals have been incredible,” he says.
servers can go to our customers over the web much up — which grew from 60 to 76 in 2008. “Ourbuyingpowerhashelpedalotofourclients—thehuge
quicker,” Parker says. “We operate with all of these partners via a transparent volumes we manage mean we can get preferential rates.”
Sea Cargo Services has implemented a web-based tool intranetusinganEDIlink,whichseamlesslycapturesdata Business in Northern Ireland has grown for Sea Cargo
calledashipmentinformationsystemthatallowseachcus- andintegratesitautomaticallyontooursystem.Thismeans Services, with a number of its clients having a presence
tomer to check the status of his or her shipment and allagentscanseethestatusofallofourshipments,”hesays. there.ParkersaysithopestoopenanoperationinBelfast
establish its arrival time. While a lot of what Sea Cargo Services does is remote, this year.
“We spent a couple of years writing our information to far flung places around the world, people and face-to- Cautiouslyoptimisticaboutthefuture,hecitesarecent
technology platform, based on listening to customers. It face contact are all important to the company. quote from entrepreneur Denis O’Brien, which Parker
means there is visibility on shipments the minute a “OnceaquarterwegotoAsia,andwegotwiceayearto wouldsubscribeto:“Getbigfast,damnthecost,bebrave,
cargo is ready in China, for example, to the time it arrives the US and Europe to meet with partners and clients. We go over the cliff. The competition doesn’t have the balls.”
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