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PROFILE REDHEAD INTERNATIONAL

4th September 1997
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Page 42, 4th September 1997 — PROFILE REDHEAD INTERNATIONAL
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Redhead International beat off a soft drinks giant to win best corporate design in last year's CM livery awards. Here managing director Jack Redhead tells John Aldridge how its successful marketing efforts included not only a new logo and livery but much more besides.

jack Redhead began his own transport company almost 20 years ago, after his employer turned down a customer's request for regular deliveries of knitting yarn to Irish destinations.

Today Bradford-based Redhead International's biggest market is still Ireland, but it is closely followed by France and Germany. All of Western Europe is now covered, while further afield Tunisia and Morocco (both good growth markets) are regularly served.

Two years ago the company set itself the target of doubling in size over the next nine years, helped by the takeover of Londonbased Militzer and Munch UK. This company was a subsidiary of a German transport and forwarding company, with offices in eastern and central Europe and Asia, with which Redhead is now working closely.

Staff numbers

A new company, M&M Redhead, has been formed to carry out the UK work. This will add £3 million extra turnover to Redhead's present £14 million, and increase staff numbers from 120 to 135.

Other developments have included deep sea container operations, mainly to the Far East and North America, begun 18 months ago. But meanwhile the trailer groupage services to France, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium in particular have continued to grow. Virtually all the trailer operations are now accompanied.

The philosophy is to give excellent services at reasonable cost. The company has its own offices, agents or both in most countries, which is reassuring to customers and also helps to obtain back loads.

Across the UK there are 25 to 30 vehicles a day collecting consignments for groupings, while 40 to 50 trailers a week go to mainland Europe. Another 40 or 50 go to Ireland.

A good proportion of this work is done by

1-1 sub-contractors, most of them fairly small ..,

m operators (usually with fleets of three or four o ivehicles) plus one or two owner-drivers.

1-

The company obtained ISO 9002 six years ..ago and has just obtained accreditation for a g 8 further three years. Its Low Moor, Bradford,

oi— warehouse covers 2,200m2 and a further 1 1,900m2 of under-loading space is used. But it is only in the last year or two that Redhead has actively marketed itself. It has a new logo, which won it last year's CM award for the Best New Corporate Design, with the judges placing it ahead of Pepsi's new livery. They commented that the win showed good design did not depend on a big budget.

Redhead is particularly pleased with the logo, but emphasises that it wasn't "just a case of let's think of something different that we can put on a vehicle".

There had been many changes in the way the company was managed, for example, the way staff were trained. What was needed was a new focal point.

"We wanted to look for a quality product," says Redhead. "Six agencies were contacted and one came up with this one, a red and white vehicle. It takes time for some to see that the logo is a head."

Everything included four company names, used for some of the different operations.

"It's worked," says Redhead. "So many people come up and comment, 'I've seen one of your vehicles today'."

But the company knows there is much

more to successful marketing than just a name, logo or livery. It needs to keep interest alive in the company, so it has started the Redhead Review, a two-page colour newspaper for customers. The second issue is due out this month.

The company also produces a spiral-bound 28-page Customer Guide, printed in colour on thick glossy paper.

"This is not the usual look at us, look how good we are effort", explains Redhead, "but is designed to be useful for customers."

It includes two pages of information on each country regularly served. One of the pages has a map, with the location of offices and agents clearly marked. Facing it are general facts about the country such as its size, population, language, currency, main exports and imports, and the services to or from it provided by the company.

At the end of the guide is a listing of common freight terms and their meanings, such

as C&F and CIF, as well as an explanation on working out volumetric weight where road, sea and air freight all use different calculations. For example, in road freight m3 x1000kg /3m3=weight while sea freight uses M3 x1000kg/1tn3=weight.

The guide ends with a blank shipment advice form which customers can photocopy, fill in and fax through to Redhead as a booking advice.

Yet another initiative has been the setting up of a direct mailing department. The company compiled its own mailing list rather than buying in one.

It hoped for a 4% response rate from the first mailing but received 17%.

Its "Let us give you a quote" offer has received a take-up rate of 82%, but of course the real success (or otherwise) will be how many of those use Redhead regularly and not just once. One reason for the high success/response rate could be that the compa

ny targeted managers rather than finance directors or chief executives.

All these achievements, whether in marketing or actual operations, have not been achieved by buying in numerous outsiders. All the directors except one (for finance) started with Redhead on the ground floor, loading trailers or typ. ing out documents.

Most of the middle management started with Redhead too. The man run. fling European operations joined straight from college, while the one in charge of Irish services originally came on a YTS scheme.

The relatively specialised nature of the business means that it handles an enormous number of phone calls-25,000 a month. Most will he from regular customers, but its recent marketing successes mean it is currently receiving at least 400 inquiries a week and providing 400 quotations a month.

Analyses

As befits a company holding BS5750 and IS09002, it carefully analyses most aspects of its operations. It carries out a customer survey every three months, asking a mix of different questions about phone response, staff attitudes, invoicing accuracy or reliability of the collection service. A list of responses is kept and results are compared with any slippage investigated.

Recent responses showed 54% thought "our drivers as ambassadors" excellent, while 38% said good and 8% fair or poor. But responses on the phone system have shown the excellent figure improving, while the good is reducing, and fair or poor has risen from 9 to 11 or 12%.

So the company is looking at creating a department solely for booking, which would leave operators more time free to deal with queries such as "We've three tonnes coming in today, when can it arrive in Paris?"

Redhead thinks a cordless phone system would be the best answer as it would make it easier to contact individuals wherever they were on the premises.

Whatever system is chosen, no doubt Redhead will have it up and running by this time next year.

Tags

Locations: Bradford, Paris

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