BOC raises its profile
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• BOC Distribution has taken the first step in a major expansion of its contract distribution business with the signing of an agreement to take over distribution of SmithKline Beecham consumer brands.
BOCDS, until now a lowprofile operator largely dedicated to Marks & Spencer, is taking over eight primary transport depots, 110 vehicles and 300 staff from Beecham for £13m as part of a five-year/ £15m distribution contract.
Added to BOCDS's existing 17 UK sites and 500 vehicles, the deal rounds off the company's UK transport set-up as well as expanding its customer base.
Graham Smith, managing director of BOCDS's Storeshield and Baker divisions, says the new business will reduce the M&S part of its turnover from 80 to 70%.
Smith is now looking for more business with retailers and manufacturers in the three areas in which BOCDS has built particular expertise since its formation 20 years ago to carry chilled food for M&S. They are:
LI Primary distribution of chilled foods, where its GL Baker and BOC Baker divisions already work for M&S's readymeal supplier Cavaghan and Gray, United Biscuits and pie maker Halls.
0 General contract warehousing. and distribution: D Expansion into Europe. BOCDS is actively seeking suitable partnerships in Europe. Its Euroshield operation in Ashford, Kent, already trunks products to M&S on the Continent, and Smith hopes to pick up more work from existing UK customers like M&S as they expand in Europe. The acquisition of Beecham's Products Distribution Services is a clear signal that we are embarked on the road to expansion," says Smith. "We are prepared to defend our position as M&S's largest physical distribution contractor, but our skills are marketable to a wider base." Like the 10 Transhield and Storeshield depots dedicated to M&S within BOCDS, the former Beecham sites will be run as a stand-alone operation, dedicated to Beecham's five factories.
Much of these depots' work involves deliveries, often on a regional basis, to smaller stores not served by retailers' own distribution systems or direct deliveries from the factory, and Smith believes there is a demand for this type of service.
In the longer term he predicts the reduction of empty running by integrating primary trunking for suppliers with retailers' secondary distribution Systems.