UK SOUTH COAST\\\ DSV leads the pack


There are few better places than Southampton for a freight forwarder to do business in, says DSV UK territory sales manager Phillip Hoare. A dynamic business and industrial base, one of the country’s leading container ports and excellent road and rail links to the rest of the country all add up to a prime logistics spot. It’s slightly surprising,


therefore, that the city and its hinterland has a relatively small number of freight forwarders. Certainly, DSV is one of a very select number of multinational forwarders to have a full presence in Southampton. “We feel we are in a unique


situation here. I don’t think there are any other global forwarders of the size of DSV here and we are certainly the largest global forwarder in the region,” Hoare explains. “It certainly gives us a unique proposition.” Perhaps Southampton’s


excellent transport links are one reason why so few other big forwarders have set up shop here. “Aſter all, you can be in Heathrow in about an hour on a good day, for example, so it is


possible to cover the region from elsewhere. But while you don’t have to be here, it certainly helps. Local relationships are still very important in this business.” DSV really ramped up its


presence in Southampton in 2016 when it acquired fellow forwarder


UTi, which had a


significant operation there. Lately, DSV has taken on the biggest


site at the Mountpark


development close to the city airport, some 95,500sq ſt, giving it a total of five separate sites in Southampton. One acts as the operational hub for DSV’s Air & Sea forwarding arm while the others handle mainly logistics work such as pick and pack. In time, DSV will look


at consolidating some of its operations in the city, though acquiring space in Southampton’s


tight property


market is not easy so the process will take time. The shortage of logistics space


is though a sign of a vibrant and dynamic market and the current lack of logistics space is certainly not down to a lack of effort by the Chamber of Commerce, Business


South or the City Council, which has put huge investment into local infrastructure, says Hoare. The business base in


Southampton is so broad as to defy description, he continues. “This is no sleepy backwater, but a thriving and upwardly mobile area. There is a huge mix of companies, from SMEs to global corporations, so we’re not over- reliant on any one account or industry. And there’s also quite an even split between imports and exports.” While


Southampton zone isn’t


now perceived as a highly industrialised


(the


Mountpark business zone has in fact been built on the site of the old Ford van plant) there is in fact plenty of export-manufacturing business to go for including chemicals, boats and maritime, food and drink and many others. It’s just that manufacturing these days is mostly so clean and discreet that most people hardly know that it’s there. Another of DSV strengths,


Hoare considers, is that it can offer a genuinely complete package, worldwide. Along


Issue 1 2020 - Freight Business Journal


with the air and sea forwarding services, there is also DSV Road – which is expected soon to join the forwarders in Southampton – and a complete array of logistics and supply chain offerings. “We can handle the complete supply chin, and I think that is something DSV is able to do better than any other forwarder,” Hoare explains. The one problem the freight


and logistics industry faces in Southampton is the lack of logistics space. DSV was able to fill much of its warehouse capacity through essentially organic growth and while there is still some capacity at two of its five sites, that may soon be filled too. Some operators also cite


Southampton’s tight labour market as an issue, but Hoare says DSV doesn’t seem to have had too many problems finding either warehouse operatives or the higher managerial


grades.


The company is developing its links with local universities and there is still a wealth of maritime and logistics expertise to tap into. “This may be a full employment, upwardly mobile city, but we don’t seem to struggle to find people,” Hoare says. “Maybe that’s because DSV is a very attractive company to work for.”


While the stretch of coast between Brighton and Worthing is best known as a seaside resort, not many people from outside the area know that it is also home to a major commercial harbour, Shoreham Port. It handles quite a wide variety of cargoes on some surprisingly large vessels and is in fact the main maritime gateway for many miles around. As a trust port, Shoreham is


both a commercial operation but is also answerable to the wider community, explains new chief executive, Tom Willis. “We have a unique responsibility. We are accountable to our communities and our colleagues. Any surplus we make is reinvested in the port.” The largest strand of Shoreham’s


business is commercial cargo. The construction industry is the main customer, for timber, steel and aggregates, along with unleaded petrol for the local market. “The customer base is quite


diverse also in the way that they handle cargo”, Willis continues. Some load straight onto vehicles, others store it while for others


there is a pick and pack operation, assembling different pieces of timber and cargo for delivery a particular customer. “We’re always on the hunt for


different cargoes,” Willis adds, “particularly those that are not too infrastructure-heavy. One of the biggest challenges we have is land and space, as we are in a very expensive part of the UK.” Shoreham also handles some


exports, in particular cereals, recycled glass and woodchip, and more would be welcome. The availability of return cargoes is an important factor for shipowners in deciding which ports to use. However, any export cargo would need to be reasonably clean, given the port’s closeness to housing. Willis points out that, from a


purely financial point of view, Shoreham could turn its activities over entirely to commercial property and make a lot of money, “but as a trust port, that’s just not our mission.” As one of the few large commercial ports on this stretch of the coast, Shoreham has a responsibility to


both the community and to the environment. “We have a huge focus around


sustainability,” Willis adds. “For example, we have two land- based wind turbines that supply electricity to the port, along with over 9,000 solar panels that also supply the area. But we’d also like to become the hub of choice for the south-east of England. There’s little sense in sending cargo to a port in the north and then trucking it hundreds of miles if a ship can come into Shoreham.” Notwithstanding


its environmental and many logistical


advantages, this has been a steady year for Shoreham with Brexit putting a slight damper on construction activity in the south of England. “It’s been pretty solid, but there’s not much growth, and there has been some stock piling of cargo earlier in the year,” says Willis. The stop-start nature of


the


construction industry also means that cargo piles up in the port as building projects are paused, he adds: “We don’t really want to store large volumes, as our space is


limited and it also interferes with pick and pack operations.” But the problem some customers face is that there is very little spare storage space anywhere in the south of England so it is tempting to leave cargo in the port until it is needed. As Willis says: “If the people our customers’ supplychain


pauses,


the supply chain has to stop somewhere.” However, there many ways in


which the efficiency of the supply chain can be improved and one area that Willis is keen to develop are systems to track and trace cargoes through the supply chain, starting with the mills – many of them in Sweden – where the timber originates. While IT systems may not be considered remarkable in, say, the fast-moving consumer goods sector or, indeed, for timber supplied to high street retailers, this would be revolutionary for material being supplied to the building trade itself. Much of Shoreham’s traffic


comes from Continental Europe, but Willis would like


to see


government encouragement for coastal traffic to and from ports like Shoreham. “This is a very congested island and there should be


incentives to move things


23 New crane hoists


Southampton bulk business


ABP has taken delivery of a Konecranes Gottwald Model 6 Mobile Harbour Crane to boost its scrap and bulk handling at Southampton’s Solent Stevedores bulks terminal. The port is Britain’s largest


export shipping hub, with £40 billion of goods passing through it every year. ABP needed a new crane at its Western Docks to manage growing demand for bulk materials handling. Following a public tender ABP


selected a Konecranes Gottwald Model 6 unit with a high tower for a better view of the working area,


once commissioning has been completed. The addition of this high capacity crane to our bulks terminal will significantly improve our productivity and we look forward to our customers enjoying the benefits this will bring.”


particularly the berthed


vessel, and an eco-efficient diesel-electric drive. According to sales and service


director for the UK, Neil Griffiths, Southampton is now the second- largest Konecranes Gottwald crane operator in the UK. Operations director at


Solent Stevedores Tom Dynes said: “We’re looking forward to getting the new crane into operation as quickly as possible


by sea.” He would also like the government to press ahead with licensing of autonomous shipping to help reduce costs of operation. Could the future be a network of semi-autonomous ships


circling


the coast and taking trucks off the UK roads? He is also keen to improve safety


in shipping and ports, conscious of the fact that the industry doesn’t have the best record this year in this respect. “This is a very labour- intensive process with an interface between large machines, humans and water – and it’s also a time- critical one.” Shoreham also has


a very


successful commercial property business. Some tenants are port users, but others are not and the port provides space for firms in a crowded and expensive part of the country. There are over 140 tenants operating from the port altogether and spaces vary from small offices and light industrial units to large sites leased to major international firms.


This year, the port built two


new prestigious commercial properties – Lady Bee Enterprise Centre and the Hove Enterprise Centre Extension, with another development due for completion


in 2020. The port has continued to maintain its Eco-port status with the new units, with features on site such as electric vehicle charging points, bicycle racks and recycling storage facilities. They have also installed a number of water-saving measures and solar panels on every roof, in collaboration with Brighton Energy Co-operative. There is also marine activity


– Shoreham provides seabed levelling services to other local ports – and fishing; around 30% of the UK scallop catch is landed here. Willis is keen to improve the


diversity in an industry that has previously been very male- dominated. Shoreham is proud to be part of


the Women in


Maritime Taskforce, established to work collaboratively with other businesses


in the industry to


promote gender equality. In fact, Shoreham was the first port in the UK to achieve Women in Maritime Charter status, a framework that challenges companies to make progress


on diversity and is


supported by a suite of toolkits and resources to enable those targets to be reached. However, Shoreham doesn’t have too many problems in recruiting people, in spite of the tight local labour market.


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