Sponsored by
MT Awards 2014 winner profile
Business Excellence Award
A can-do attitude
The winner of the inaugural Business Excellence Award, Abbey Logistics Group, impressed the
judging panel with its clear strategic vision, which it also has the wherewithal to put into practice
S
ince winning the Haulier of the
Year title in 2010 as Abbey Roadtanks, the management, led by MD
Steve Granite, has transformed the
business, embarking on an ambitious five-year plan to double in size, diversify
into new markets, retain all existing clients
while winning new ones and reinforce a company-wide focus on its environmental impact.
The plan was achieved last month, a year
ahead of schedule, and the company has now
embarked on a new five-year plan to again
double turnover to £60m by 2019 with a profit
of £2m. The new plan has got off to a flying
start with the acquisition of the majority of the
assets and customer base of the bulk powder
transport business of Seafield Logistics.
The company, a major player in the UK bulk
powder transport market, went into administration after posting a pre-tax loss of £362,000
on a turnover of £41.3m for the 18 months to
31 December 2012. Abbey has taken on
Seafield’s Winsford, Middlewich and
Immingham operations, along with 47 trucks,
57 powder tanks and 70 employees, taking the
fleet to 300 trucks and a staff of 450.
“We estimate that Seafield will add about
£7m or £8m a year in turnover, so that will put
us up to £42m or £43m,” said Granite. “As a
result, we have decided to slow down our sales
effort while we consolidate Seafield before we
kick off again.”
on the powder and general haulage side we are
into ADR and chemicals too. Approximately
55% of the business is now non-liquids and
about half of that is ADR or chemicals. So naturally we are open minded about where we
expand the business as long as it makes money
and is a strategic fit.”
Although still based in Bootle, Merseyside,
Abbey now covers the UK and is planning to
expand its international operations.
“We are well spread now across the UK and
the next five years will probably take us more
into Europe,” said Granite. “That will be in
liquids and powders, keeping the general haulage UK only. All the business we do on the
continent at present relates to our UK customers, and our vision is to be transporting around
the continent rather than back to the UK all
the time.”
Customer service
Abbey’s success has been based on top-notch
customer service and a range of innovations
that led one client to say “this is transport management for the 21st century and Abbey is
showing what can be achieved”.
Pioneering initiative
Business plan
When Abbey embarked on its business plan
in 2010 it was mainly a bulk liquid food products haulier, and a major part of the plan was
to diversify into powders and dry freight transport. This target has been met – its bulk powder, palletised freight and warehousing divisions
account for 40% of turnover, compared with
5% in 2010.
“In terms of liquid tankers, food is still mainly
the focus of the business,” said Granite. “But
24 MotorTransport
MTR_110814_024-025.indd 24-25
On-time in-full deliveries have steadily risen
since 2010, while annual customer surveys
have also shown consistent increases in satisfaction with Abbey’s service levels.
The entry included some impressive
customer testimonials, including one using
its relatively new bulk powder service that said:
“The thing that marks Abbey out is its vision
for the future. It is not happy just to come to
monthly meetings and make sure everything
is running smoothly. We discuss how we, its
customer, can improve the offering we make
to our customers.”
According to Granite, excellent customer
service comes from empowering front-line
staff to say “yes” whenever possible.
“We instil in our people a can-do spirit,” said
Granite. “We have a customer charter that said
a planner can never say ‘no’ to a customer until
he has escalated it up the managerial structure.
We never want to say ‘no’ if we can help it. So
we will turn over every stone before we go back
and say it’s a definite no. When we talk to
customers about how they differentiate between
us and other hauliers, it comes down to our
can-do spirit and the fact that we always say
‘yes’ when others say ‘we can’t because of this
or that’.”
From left: Rob Brydon; Dave Coulson, commercial director; Steve Lucy, support services
director; Steve Granite, MD, all Abbey Logistics; and Neil Hodgson, Fortec Distribution Network MD
11.8.14
As well as running a fast-growing logistics
business, Granite has found time to pioneer
the Think Logistics initiative to get young people interested in a career in logistics. As well
as developing the concept and presentation
materials for any operator to use to take into
schools, Granite has recruited two apprentices
from his old school, All Saints, in Kirkby. They
are doing well and have proved a real asset to
the business, he said.
“As part of the five-year strategy, I put all the
management team on a five-day leadership
course, and I also put the two apprentices on
that,” said Granite. “They don’t usually get
11.8.14
18- and 19-year-olds on the course so it is great
exposure for them. I have one apprentice working on the liquid planning desk and he is going
for the CILT Level 3 now, and the other is in
finance and in his third year of an AAT course.
This year we are planning to take on another
apprentice as part of our growth strategy.”
Think Logistics is going from strength to
strength and will be boosted if it receives the
expected funding from the Edge Foundation
to ensure it reaches the widest possible audience.
Innovation
Another key innovation is the development of
QBIS, a system that allows the company to
send orders direct to the driver’s handheld
device and the driver to regularly update the
status of the delivery. QBIS then automatically
recalculates the ETA, which customers can see
live after logging in.
QBIS was developed in response to customer
satisfaction surveys that showed Abbey was
achieving only average scores on communication, and customers were often left feeling
frustrated when trying to find an accurate ETA
for a delivery. So Abbey designed QBIS, which
takes into account driver breaks and traffic
congestion to give customers the accurate
possible ETA for their load. Unlike most tracking systems that only update when a load leaves
the depot, QBIS gives a live status throughout
the journey – and produces an instant online
proof of delivery. Feedback from customers
has been “tremendous” and provides Abbey
with another USP, the company said.
Another key element for companies wanting
to win this award is the environment, and Abbey
makes a very public statement about its environmental policy, emblazoning the slogan ‘on
the road to a greener future’ on the side of its
vehicles. It regularly measures its performance
against a series of KPIs including fuel consumption, water use and waste sent to landfill or
recycled.
“One of the most significant developments
this year will be on the Seafield business,” said
Granite. “We expect to increase the average
payload of the business we acquired by 10% or
15% by using lightweight tanks and units.
Seafield just took a truck and a tank as opposed
to saying this part of the business needs this
kit and that part needs that kit. We put the right
kit in the right places, which will generate
substantial environmental savings.”
Together with one of its biggest clients,
Cargill, Abbey also designed and developed a
twin-cargo trailer able to carry both liquid and
palletised goods. It operates two of these specialised vehicles, which initially started running
between Manchester and Scotland, significantly
reducing empty running by taking bulk liquid
north and returning loaded with palletised
freight.
“We have put a pump on one of them so it
can go anywhere,” said Granite. “They now
run to Scotland with both liquid and dry goods
onboard.”
Flexibility, reliability
Independent customer feedback gathered by
Analytiqa included the word “refreshing” more
than once. Comments included: “It cares about
our business, which is a refreshing change in
the transport industry”, and “it is open and
honest – some would say too honest, but we
find this refreshing”. Abbey’s key strengths
included: flexibility, reliability and a can-do
attitude; high service levels; strategically-driven
– it has a clear future plan.
Awarding Abbey winner of the first Business
Excellence award, our judges said Abbey had
a clear long-term strategy that it revisited once
it was clear it would beat its target. They added
that Abbey was innovative and “thinks outside
the box”.
They said the MD deserved a lot of credit for
Think Logistics, which one said “was bloody
hard work”. ■
MotorTransport 25
12/08/2014 08:38:02