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Issue 3 2019 - Freight Business Journal


///NORTH WEST


Northern highlights


If Brexit is supposed to be casting a shadow of business, no one seems to have told the folk in North-west England. Forwarders and ports alike are pushing ahead with ambitious plans for the future.


Business on the up at Ital


Business at Manchester-based


Ital Logistics is doing well, says managing director Phil Denton. The company is currently loading around 35 groupage trailers a week from the UK plus the same again in full loads across its core markets. “However, we could do a lot


more,” he explains, adding: “We’ve already taken on two new people this year, one for Italy exports and one for our forwarding business, and we are also looking to recruit a new sales person with a focus on team ethics.” Imports across Ital’s core


markets are similar to export


volumes, with the larger share being from Italy. Recent developments in the


third quarter of last year include the new Malta service, which operates in connection with one of the island country’s main forwarders, Eurobridge Shipping Services. This currently runs in conjunction with Ital’s long- established Italian service and is already doing the equivalent of 1½ trailers a week from the UK. Cargo is consolidated in Milan along with that from the rest of Europe bound for Malta.


Italian export manager Dean


Emsley says: “Hopes are that it will increasingly become a stand- alone operation with trailers leaving the UK and going straight into Malta, although by having the volume of cargo from all Europe to load at the same time it does have the advantage that better payloads can be created which help provide more competitive pricing.” Denton adds though: “If we


do leave the EU without a deal and customs becomes the norm, perhaps separation may be more appropriate.” Eurobridge itself is also


expanding fast in Malta, having moved out of its old depot at the public Hal Far site to its own fi ve- dock, purpose-built facility. Construction in Malta is


booming, and this can only lead to increased trade, says Denton, who is just back from a recent visit to the island. The UK/Greece route is also


doing well, now running at six or more groupage trailers a week, thanks to the dedication and concerted eff orts of the line manager David Atkin. The latter says: “While perhaps the last month or so has seen an infl ux of freight ahead of Brexit, the development has been possible because of the competitive rates which our Greek partner provide, not only on the mainland, but also to the array of islands. The ability to carry dangerous goods has also given us the edge over our competitors, as has the excellent service of our round trip hauliers.” As well as the regular trailer


Rhenus shrugs off Brexit worries Business at Rhenus Logistics


is pretty buoyant, despite the uncertainty of impending Brexit, says general manager Rob Mulligan. “We traded upwards in 2018 compared with 2017 and we’re planning for more growth in the business,” he told FBJ. “And so far, 2019 is also showing an improvement on 2018, which is very good considering the current situation.” Indeed, some of the extra


business has come about as a direct result of Brexit, as companies have built up stocks in the UK ahead of 29 March. Rhenus Logistics’ new 20,000sq ſt site at Eccles near Manchester is now “pleasingly full” although there is capacity


elsewhere in the UK network as a whole. Rhenus recently bought specialist warehousing company RCS Corby which has added signifi cantly to its capacity. The new Manchester site,


which has space for 2,025 pallets probably has enough capacity for the foreseeable future. It works in tandem with the other major northern hub, in Bradford, which is essentially a mirror image though with somewhat more storage capacity. The other main UK hubs are in Cannock in the Midlands and Basildon, east London. There is also an airfreight facility at Heathrow. Rhenus took over Hauser’s


operations in Manchester in 2006 when the Rhenus Group acquired


the company, initially operating out of its Traff ord Park site in Manchester. Another new acquisition, fellow


Manchester forwarder Staples Shipping, was moved into Rhenus’ headquarters in 2017 and the integration has gone smoothly and is now trading as Rhenus Air and Ocean, says overseas air and ocean manager in Manchester, Paul Atkinson. All Staples’ customers have been retained and indeed new business has been added. Much as they would probably


like to, Mulligan and Atkinson cannot avoid the “B-word” and a lot of their time recently has been taken up with reassuring customers that, come what may,


Rhenus will be able to help them. “We do keep a weather eye on the situation, and indeed we have been doing so since the referendum. We also have very good connections with the diff erent working groups.” In some cases, Rhenus has been


able to advise on, for instance, whether it is advisable to move a production or stocking point into the EU, or whether in fact there is nothing to worry about. In some cases it has suggested to customers that they obtain an EORI number or has been able to give information on possible customs duties. While, at the time of writing in mid-April, most aspects of the post-Brexit landscape remained unknown, “customers have been grateful for


services, Ital Logistics also has a growing maritime department, which handles traffi c to the likes of the Middle East and central Asia. In time, some of this business could be the springboard for further regular groupage services, Denton believes. Ital also maintains a general


freight forwarding department providing road freight Europe- wide, including many cross-trade movements, allowing it to off er customers a one-stop-shop. Apart from the new Malta


service, 2018 was largely a year of consolidation for Ital Logistics following a major investment in its new base at Heywood, north Manchester, and the development


of their new


soſt ware. However, Ital now has its sights set on further expansion,


the information we have been able to give”. Inevitably, levels of storage will


at some point return to normality but in the meantime there has been a spike in activity. Again, Rhenus has been able to advise on whether or not the cost of storage is likely to outweigh the likely levels of customs duty should it be imposed aſt er Brexit. “There has been an upturn in storage,” Mulligan confi rms, “but I wouldn’t say companies have gone mad with it. It’s, say, two or three truckloads, more of a strategic stock just in case there are problems aſt er Brexit. Again, we wouldn’t advise customers to spend a lot on extra freight when they don’t need to, or if the freight bill was likely to be higher than any duty they might have to pay.”


including a possible new service to Morocco. The country is not currently particularly well served from the UK, and it would fi t in well with Ital’s existing services to southern Spain. Switzerland is another possible


new destination and, again, would


dovetail nicely with


existing services to Italy. Denton says: “We did dip our toes into Switzerland around 6-7 years ago but aſt er a short time realised that our correspondents were more agent-minded and not partner-minded, so we ‘parked’ it for the time being until the right opportunity presented itself.” Further expansion in


Manchester is possible, although this will have to wait until the uncertainty over Brexit has been resolved.


But Rhenus shares all the


frustrations of its customers in not knowing what the future will bring. “We just want to get on with the job, but the lack of clarity frustrates us,” says Mulligan. What it has been able to do


is to step up training of staff in vital matters such as Customs procedures. Mulligan recognises that there is a cost to doing this and that it might, in the end be to some extent redundant, but he would rather be fully prepared than take an ‘it’ll be alright on the night’ approach. In any case, the UK will probably


leave the EU at some stage and the customs knowledge will come in useful then, as indeed it will for non-European work in the interim. Customs expertise will be needed


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