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uilding up a sound business

8th October 2009, Page 20
8th October 2009
Page 20
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Page 20, 8th October 2009 — uilding up a sound business
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Dale Fiddy, sales and marketing director at NFT Distribution, has taken on the next challenge in his career strengthening a chilled and ambient giant.

Words: Christopher Walton

THE SINGLE disappointment CM experienced when we paid a visit to NFT Distribution, the primary and secondary chilled distribution specialist, was that the 'NI', 'F' and 'T' don't actually stand for anything.

Considering its history as the former transport arm of food manufacturing giant Northern Foods, logic would dictate that Northern Foods Transport would fit the acronym. but that is a misconception the firm wants to quash.

In 2006. Northern Foods sold the business to a management buyout led by managing director David Frankish and business services director Charles Stephens, and backed by private equity firm Phoenix Equity Partners.

Since then, the firm has looked to reinvent itself with a series of measures ranging from a new livery (of which its hexagonal design is reminiscent of the TV game show Blockbusters) through to acquiring a new warehouse facility at the DIRFT Logistics Park near Daventry. Northamptonshire, in 2008.

The unit, off Junction 18 of the MI, is a 215,000ft2 distribution centre with 20 dock-levelled access doors. Its neighbours include Tesco and DI-IL.

Topping off three years of change has been a string of contract wins. In 2007, NET secured a two-year deal with Manor Fresh to distribute both its organic and conventional potatoes and vegetables to Marks & Spencer (M&S). The firm also signed a distribution and warehousing contract with Uniq, the makers of M&S sandwiches, and has a three-year agreement to manage the national perishable primary logistics for Sainsbury's.

Sales and marketing director Dale Fiddy joined NET Distribution in April, having spent 12 years working at Culina Logistics (see the panel on the right).

CM caught up with Fiddy at the organisation's Daventry site. Now he has had time to get his feet under the proverbial desk, he tells CM that the challenge is "to expand our business and increase market share'?

He continues: "When I first started speaking to David [Frankish], he had big aspirations for NET as a business. However, at the time, it was owned by Northern Foods and had a remit to develop its services within the core needs of Northern Foods.

"Since the buyout, we now have the backing to become a true logistics provider. That was the catalyst to take NET to its next level."

Timing is everything

Moving to that level is all a question of timing. The management buyout in 2006 was fortuitous, especially given the economic storm that would strike in the years to come.

NET has had the chance to change and restructure before the recession forced others to do likewise.

"We were fortunate," admits Fiddy. "And timing is everything. But to be successful at NFT, Pm a fundamental believer that it is 33% hard work, 33% skill and 33% good fortune.

"The buyout came at the right time for NFT, and Frankish had a clear strategy for the business and how it could realise its potential. So, yes, the deal came at just the right time."

Improving skills, and making sure the hard work is done, has come off the back of a il.5m investment in a RedPrairie software system — an online management tool that allows you to monitor the entire supply chain,right down to the individual box on each pallet, in what IT specialists refer to as "secure, real-time visibility'?

For a company that employs some 1,600 people, runs 350 trucks and 415 trailers, as well as seven depots across the country, that "real-time visibility" is key in helping keep operating costs low, Fiddy says: "We have to bring a high level of accuracy, and that is what the food manufacturers are looking for, "You are dealing with brands that are worth billions, and you have to establish yourself as a credible provider for the manufacturers of those brands."

Expansion plans

He adds: "Where NFT is going to be successful is we have to get the cost, and quality balance right. Manufacturers can't drive a decision based on costs alone. There has to be the right elements of quality and control."

And part of that will come from expansion and developments in its distribution network. Fiddy teases CM by saying it is on the look-out for a "Daventry two — just not in Daventry'?

"We already provide a cost-effective and efficient service and that will be fundamental to NM'," he concludes, "We are not looking to make aboveindustry-average margins from one manufacturer to another, we just need to build a sound business." •

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