Mather warns of outsider dealing threat
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• British hauliers need to face up to the threat to their business posed by large American and Australian transport companies, says John Mather, chief executive of the National Freight Consortium.
Speaking at this year's European Transport Conference, Mather singled out Federal Express as a particular threat, with its plans to operate multinational distribution contracts for multinational companies. He expects Federal to win a number of European distribution contracts with companies it already works for in the States. "Perhaps we'd like to do the same to them," says Mather, who has high hopes for NFC's recent acquisitions in the United States and Australia. He warns, however, that "UK companies shouldn't be drawn into cross-channel business, but should export their skills. Europe is a market we can't ignore, but it is a series of domestic markets and a series of opportunities."
"European cross-border movements are a minefield for the unwary," says Mather. He claims a number of NFC customers are considering manufacturing in separate EEC countries to be nearer their markets and he believes NFC can win distribution contracts within each of those national boundaries. "We are working backwards up the chain into the European marketplace," he says. "We must talk to manufacturers about doing their distribution."
El Federal Express Priority Services has announced plans to create 600 jobs this year as part of an expansion plan which includes the opening of addi
tional depots. In Scotland the company plans to take on another 60 workers this year, and to open new deports at Perth and Edinburgh. Federal Express's Paisley depot is subject to an option-to-purchase agreement with another company, and will either be sold off or run-down.