Forward thinking
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On the look out for new business this year? You could Learn a few things from Fast Forward International. CM caught up with managing director Colin McKay.
Words: Roger Brown / Images: Graham Richardson
WINNING PROFITABLE new contracts is a skill all hauliers will need to put into practice this year, and that is an approach that Fast Forward International has managed to hone over the past few years.
A canny triumph came when the Sittingbourne, Kent-based firm secured a deal with a business that made hand gels and soaps at the height of the swine flu outbreak last year. And to sweeten this success, shortly after came a contract with an Australian honey producer looking to expand its business in Europe, capitalising on the falling bee population in the UK.
Cohn McKay, Fast Forward's managing director, says: "We have to constantly push for new business in a bid to stay ahead of our competitors."
Now, more than ever, it's crucial that the operator does not put all of its eggs into a single basket: "The traditional industry in Sittingbourne focused around the paper mill, but it is vital these days for firms such as ours to have a diverse range of clients and keep looking for new opportunities."
New contract wins help to keep the business moving in the right direction, and complement work from longstanding customers, such as Kentish brewer and pub operator Shepherd Neame and French concrete additives company Chryso.
According to McKay, Fast Forward had "two fantastic years" before the recession hit, but is now having to cope with a "very difficult market".
"We've done a lot of work to cut costs and, at the moment, we're looking in minute detail at where every penny is spent," he stresses, "We've got brilliant drivers the best team we have ever had and a great team of staff. Because of this, we have done everything we can to avoid redundancies."
Freight forwarding
Last year, the company which is registered as McKay Freight, saw pre-tax profit increase to £228,084, from £150,888 for the year ending 31 October 2008, For the same 12-month period, turnover increased to £3.8m from £3.7m.
"It has been a tough year, but we arc still profitable and we intend to carry on doing what we're good at," McKay says -The recession has not all been a bad thing, because the industry will come out leaner and fitter. It has taught us a lot about the business and about our customers."
The company's main specialism is in freight forwarding, and it uses a combination of its own fleet of 10 curtainsider trucks mainly 44-tonne Volvos as well as a network of partner firms and subcontractors across the Continent. A total of 25 people including 10 drivers are employed at the site, which includes 13,000ft2 of warehouse space.
McKay says: "We have the option of subcontracting to cut down the cost for the client We work with the partners we can trust, and build relationships with reputable hauliers of a similar size on the Continent"
Unwelcome passengers
Due to the overseas nature of many of Fast Forward's routes, though, the company has had its fair share of problems with stowaways.
About three years ago, a driver was off work for more than 12 months with a badly injured knee after he opened the back of his trailer and became involved in a scuffle with a man who had boarded his truck undetected.
McKay says: "We are part of the UK Border Agency accreditation scheme for hauliers, and this helps us if we get into trouble for any reason. "It shows we have done everything possible to avoid these sorts of situations happening. Our trailers are fitted with steel mesh and we are very careful to make sure that forms are correctly stamped and signed by staff at loading and unloading points."
McKay is also critical about what he sees as the lack of secure parking for truck drivers in Britain compared with the rest of Europe.
He says: "In the UK, it is somehow still considered acceptable to ask drivers to spend the night in a lay-by with moving trucks whizzing past. More attention is given to drivers in the rest of Europe, and in many places on the Continent, parking facilities are free."
Paying more attention not just to his workforce. hut to the business opportunities around him, is one of the reasons why McKay, and Fast Forward, is looking at a turnover target in excess of the 2010 economic growth forecasts "The plan was never to grow to a huge size, but rather a manageable one. The aim is to see turnover reach about .f.5m," McKay says hopefully.