John S Braid

Source: Supply Chain Digital

Date :29/08/2007 17:21:39

Bulk logistics drive growth at The Braid Group

A logistics service provider that has diversified into many areas of freight management,

The Braid Group leverages a global capability provided by an expanding network of regional offices and dedicated partnerships. Financial Director Allan Haldane told James Hurley how the company is finding growth in a competitive market for Flexitanks and Freight Forwarding

Written by James Hurley & Produced by Paul Radbourne

Founded in 1955, John S Braid & Co Ltd operates from three bases in the UK - Glasgow, Birkenhead and London – and since 2002 has established owned and JV offices in France, Germany, Spain, USA, Singapore, China, Taiwan, Australia, South Africa and Chile. Following a diversification from an initial focus on freight forwarding, project forwarding and chartering, the company now has four divisions – bulk liquid logistics, freight forwarding, transport and warehousing, project forwarding/chartering & port agency. John S Braid employs 125 worldwide.

Developing a track record

Through its global offices, joint ventures and a network of 65 agents, the company is now virtually geographically unlimited. “Over the past five years we’ve become a truly worldwide group,” says Allan Haldane, the company’s Financial Director since 1984. “The joint venture trading companies overseas are adding pace to the Group’s global growth.”

With the company’s expanding global presence, John S Braid’s bulk operations represent an increasingly significant proportion of the company’s activities, with significant growth also coming in forwarding.. Its bulk operations essentially involve the distribution of wines, spirits and other liquids on behalf of major manufacturers.

The group has two reliable modes of transporting bulk liquids. Flexitanks that are installed inside a 20ft shipping container and can carry a variety of products, including non-hazardous chemicals and ISO tanks. “We move wine, spirits and juices as well as oil for many blue chip companies..”

Braid’s Flexitanks are easy to handle, light in weight and easy to install. Loading is via a top or bottom valve having a two or three inch optional opening and built in shut off valves are standard on every tank. Auto-air vents are available as an option. Installation, loading, unloading and disposal supervision is available in every major global trade lane.

The company’s ISO Tank operations are dedicated to food grade products – primarily wines and spirits, although it also carries some food grade products compatible with the wines and sprits market. “There is growth across the range of our business which is encouraging and supports the company’s plan to further invest in new ISO tanks.

“The thing with the wine industry is that a lot of the business is controlled by large freight forwarding companies. We work with a fair number of those. We’re also trying to keep our services known in their own right to the shippers so that we can select the freight forwarder that we deal with, rather than relying on the freight forwarders using us. We think this can be achieved by word of mouth, a bit of marketing activity and the product really developing a proven track record.

“The biggest thing about Flexitanks is their reliability and track record. We’re quite sure that as the record develops with this particular tank, new business will open up,” Haldane says.

The Iso Tank side of John S Braid’s operations focuses on wines and spirits, which is the smaller side of a market that’s dominated by the transportation of chemicals. “There are some constraints on growth in this area,” he concedes, “but we still believe there is room for significant growth here and we are looking to invest in more Iso Tanks for our fleet. We currently own just under 600 Iso Tanks but operate a fleet of 1600. We’ve earmarked growth with the possible addition of 100-150 more.” Since 1998, the company has invested £5.7 million in Iso Tanks.

“We’ve no plans to compete with the large Iso Tank operators by moving chemicals. They run huge fleets compared to ours – we see ourselves remaining in the niche market of wines, spirits and associated food grade products.

Haldane expects double digit growth in its bulk logistics operations as well as in project forwarding. “In Flextitanks, Braid is already the second largest global operator, a position that was won through hard work and dedication by a team of key professionals. Forwarding growth is not organic; we revised our focus and we’re targeting areas where customers obtain value from our services. Import and project forwarding are trading strongly, leading the company to increase manpower to accommodate this sustainable growth ,” he says.

A unified group

Before joining The Braid Group in 1984, Haldane had been a chartered accountant with Spicer Watson, Braid’s auditors at the time. “I left them to join the company,” he says. “It was my first move out of the CA profession. I had been involved in Braid’s audit, and it seemed like an excellent company to join.”

John S Braid became a Limited company in 1971, but has its origins in 1955. The 52 years old company reached another milestone in its history at the end of last year with a management buyout that was completed in December. “John S Braid was 76 percent owned by the Braid family,” Haldane explains. “The Chairman had died suddenly in 2004. The remaining family members continued the business for a short while and then decided to sell. The existing Managing Director Nigel Gray formed a team that concluded an MBO on December 15. A new holding company, Braid Group (Holdings) Ltd, was established and following that, a group board was formed.” This board currently consists of Ian Boyd as Non-Executive Chairman, CEO Nigel Gray, COO Alan Leddra, (M D of Braid Logistics Asia), Shane Watson (MD of Braid LogisticsAustralia). Haldane, also part of the buyout team, is CFO.

“With the formation of a new parent company structure, the biggest change has been the closer working of the four overseas entities with the UK operation. Before, there were joint ventures that we owned a varying percentage of, with each operation running almost autonomously. Since the formation of the group, under the Braid Group Holdings banner, all four operations are working much more closely and as an entirely more unified group. We’re really seeing the benefits of that,” he says.

The structure of the company changed following the MBO and this brought new challenges. “Our first target was to manage that debt and so far this has been achieved. Our second target was to integrate the group as much as possible in the way that it operates. It is also our intention to improve our global marketing.”

To this end, the company has identified the need to develop its business in South America and South Africa and has already taken action to be more visible and pro-active in these markets. “We may start to do things in our own right in those markets, increasing our personnel around the globe, instead of dealing with agents as we do at the moment. We’re currently in the process of assessing the market in South Africa, so there may be a change there within the next six months,” Haldane explains.