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Exel beer deal puts subbies on hold

7th September 1995
Page 6
Page 6, 7th September 1995 — Exel beer deal puts subbies on hold
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by Karen Miles • Small hauliers and union officials fear for employment prospects and subcontracting deals as this week NFC subsidiary Exel gears up to operate a £90-million-a-year joint venture with brewing giant Bass.

The new company, Tradeteam, is due to begin operations on 1 October when Exel Logistics will take over the brewer's 2,000 distribution staff, 700 vehicles and 45 distribution centres.

NFC has paid £15.5m to Bass to operate the £90m-a-year, 10-year contract and plans to persuade other drinks manufacturers to use the new third-party service.

Subcontractors working for Bass are being told that their immediate futures are secure. However, general manager Ken Derbyshire at Burton on Trent-based Jefferys Transport, which handles some trunking for the brewer, fears Exel might be looking at cutting rates, but says he and other sub-contractors will only get a better picture after meetings with the firm, planned for next week. Despite assurances from Exel that employees' jobs, pay and conditions will be transferred, senior officials at the Transport and General Workers Union this week met to discuss its response after announcing its deep suspicion of the deal.

Before the meeting, the union's drinks industry national secretary Brian Revell said: "Earlier this year Bass attempted to cut the pay of its drivers by £70 per week. We thwarted that attempt, but I fear that this is an attempt by the company to achieve by the back door what they have have failed to do directly."

H The joint venture, which NFC claims is the largest distribution deal of its kind, is being seen by City analysts as the way forward for the largest distribution companies—and a method of squeezing out smaller hauliers unable to raise the finance for such deals. • NFC subsidiary Exel Logistics is being reorganised into 14 business units that will have head officesupported operational teams managing costs and asset useage. The change is to bring about a "rapid recovery in the financial performance of Exel Logistics," a leaked NFC memo says. Currently there are two broad business units and regional operational teams.


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