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Team
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leader • Stood outside Reading station waiting for a lift. I idly wonder what type of execmobile it's going to be.1 hope for a Volvo, which might justify some tenuous journalistic conclusions regarding the owner being a 'safe pair of hands'.
In the event Chris Sturman. chief executive at newly formed Ling Alliance, is behind the wheel of a BMW estate car.1 fail to draw any conclusions from this and tell Sturman how disappointed I am. -Sorry to let you down," he laughs. To be fair its unusual for a chief executive to give you a lift to his office in the first place, but then Sturman's role is not that of your typical chief exec. He describes his role as somewhere between a consultant, a mediator, a strategic developer and, oddly enough, a leader.
Greater than its parts
Ling Alliance is a group of 28 operators that have formed themselves into a limited company to tender for work that, as individual firms, they could not hope to compete for. It sprang from the loins of the Transport Association — a self-help group of 60-odd well known family haulage firms featuring names like Malcolm and Prestons of Potto.
Sturman has worked at several large logistics businesses before, includingTDG and Wincanton, and most recently worked at West Kent Coldstores. He was lured into heading up Ling by one of the TA's management team:"We were talking and he asked me if I wanted a proper job again. I said yes, as long as it's interesting and challenging. I met with the directors a few weeks later and shortly afterwards they offered me the role. It's been fun ever since!"
Fun. Now there's a word for a chief executive to use. You might think that starting a business virtually from scratch, tendering for all manner of contracts and wrestling with 28 competing egos would he, well, not fun. But Sturman begs to differ: -It goes back to the sort of environment where 1 started my career; especially my time at TDG. This was as TDG used to be — small, autonomous, independent companies with TDG acting effectively as the banker. However, Sturman sees important distinctions between the two firms in that all the companies within Ling are continuing to trade outside of the alliance, "They're not just throwing everything into the pot.as he puts it.
Equally he insists that the corporate structure at Ling, in which each member company is an equal shareholder, prevents it from turning into a 'proper' logistics firm a few years down the road. He adds: "They'd never let me do that! Seriously I don't think that's even on the agenda—it could only happen if all the members wanted that.The direction and future structure of the business is determined by them."
Which is all well and good, but given that there are 28 chairmen who, like Anne Preston or Bob Terris, are well known in the industry as `characters',steering them all in the same direction should be no easy task. Sturman thinks otherwise: "They are all strong characters and astute business people: after all they wouldn't be where they are today otherwise. However, they are all committed to this enterprise and balance their own requirements against those of Ling Alliance.
Long-term prospects There's also the small matter of revenue holding the whole thing together— if Ling succeeds then there will be operating profits for the companies involved as well as a shareholder dividend.
However, this is all dependent on getting any work in the first place. Six months after its creation and so far— nothing. However, Sturman says negotiations for two contracts are at an advanced stage and several others are out to tender. -My members would expect, and I hope. that we will have our first one signed within the next three months," says Sturman."1 would like to have two signed and sealed within the first year. But you know as well as I do that winning a distribution contract is not like simply finding traffic for the following day — there's usually a long gestation period of up to 12 months."
The marketing process is well under way with the latest push due to end soon, but one handy promotional tool that Ling already possesses is a case study of how an alliance can work. East Anglian Ling members R Gun, Knowles Transport and Jack Richards already have their own micro-alliance in the form of Wisbech Roadways, formed to service a contract for Pedigree Masterfoods. It's been so successful that it has recently been renewed.
"Tony Knowles has already said to me if I want to bring potential customers down to show them what we are about then he'd be delighted." says Sturman. "I can see it being an important model for us to use to demonstrate to customers our capabilities and value-added services."
Sturman is positive that the alliance is the way forward for its members and customers: "If my members say that's what they'll do then they will get on and do it. That's the commitment they have made. There's also no enormous corporate structure to go through to get a decision made — the individual chairmen have all been part of the process and know exactly what and where their resources are and when they can be put into place.
"If a director needs new trucks to service a contract then he'll get them there," he concludes."To be honest that sort of attitude makes a refreshing change." •