Bulk Fluid Movement - £10 million t/o

The client had grown its business from being a Western European freight forwarder of bulk fluid to offering its customers (principally large chemical firms) a worldwide service. Company procedures had not been appropriate for this expansion, and utilisation had plummeted. The client company had lost money for eight years, progressively hiring more containers long term from its parent, who asked Collingwood to take over the logistics and financial sides of the business.

The most important changes made by Collingwood were:

Control of the tank fleet. Collingwood developed a bespoke system to control the worldwide tank fleet.

Improve utilisation by collecting demurrage revenues. Demurrage revenues were increased tenfold due to improved control.

Controlled reporting from the agency network. Collingwood established formal worldwide reporting from all agents around the world.

Changed commercial strategy. Pegging hire rates to the utilisation of sending and receiving tank areas increased both utilisation and revenue hire rates.

As a result of these changes, the client showed its first profit in almost a decade, and the business grew to $24 million in two years, largely self-financed. $1 million additional revenue was collected on demurrage per year.