20 B ULK D ISTRIBUTOR
Logistics
January/February 2019
A Quick Word
A Quick Word with Antony Leighton , sector director for
Manufacturing, Industrial and Bulk (MIB) at Eddie Stobart Logistics (ESL)
A
ntony Leighton joined Eddie Stobart in
December 2017 during the busiest
period in the company’s history. “It was
definitely the fastest way to learn,” he told
Bulk Distributor.
Having enjoyed a long and varied career
within the logistics industry, starting out on
Hoyer’s graduate training scheme, his first
management position was as a transport
manager and from there he progressed to
contract manager before becoming a
divisional director.
After 15 years he left Hoyer to become
managing director of Suttons’ tanker
division, heading up operations in the UK.
After four and a half years of “significant
revenue, profit growth and a lot of fun”,
Leighton returned to Hoyer, running the
company’s operations in Norway.
In December 2017 he took on a fresh
challenge at ESL and talks exclusively to Bulk
Distributor about his role as sector director
for MIB and the issues currently facing the
industry.
BD. As ESL’s sector director for MIB,
what specific industries and main
contracts will you be overseeing?
AL. The MIB sector is now our largest
established segment and has seen significant
growth during the year. Our operation sees ESL
g
m
moving a wide range of products from cans and
other
oth packaging materials, to timber, automotive
par and even Christmas trees. It’s a very wide
parts
customer
base and something that ESL has been
c s
involved in for many years.
ESL has invested heavily in its industrial business
over the past couple of years and this has
provided us with a platform to work primarily in
the construction and building products sector
using specialist MOL equipment and curtainsiders.
Key accounts include Aggregate Industries and
Cemex, but we hope to develop our expertise in
the sector and grow to bring on more big names
in this space.
Our bulk business is made up of tankers moving
bulk cement powder for a wide variety of clients
and bulk fuels on behalf of Argent Energy, XPO
and Hoyer among others. The bulk fleet also
includes some specialist ‘walking floors’
equipment which we move on behalf of Hanson.
This is complemented by a small fleet of concrete
mixers.
Similar to the industrial business, we see the
bulk and tanker arena as an opportunity to grow
and will look to move different bulk product types
in the future.
What is the main focus of your new role at
ESL and what does it involve?
Coming from a mainly tanker background I
spent the first two to three months learning about
our business and more importantly establishing
relationships with our customers. My priorities are
to focus on our service offering, solidify our
position in the Industrial sector, embed our recent
new business wins, deliver operational efficiencies
to improve our profitability and most importantly,
grow! seeking ways to improve. We continue to invest in
safety training for all employees, particularly our
drivers and warehouse operatives. We cover all
areas of driver training be it class one training,
SAFED courses, DCPC, PDP, crane courses for
construction equipment and so on. We
complement this with high investment in
technology – all our vehicles are equipped with
on-board tablets with full telematics and
management information on driving behaviour.
Can you tell us more about the ongoing fleet
diversification – what lies behind the decision
to diversify and how it is progressing?
It’s primarily about ensuring that we can meet
the needs of our current and future client base in
the building products sector. We’ve invested
heavily over the past few years by offering
complementary services and ‘logistics choice’ to
key clients that can only enhance our value offer,
making us more competitive. What are the big issues affecting the industry
at the moment, both in the UK and further
afield and how can these be addressed?
We continue to face significant industry
challenges across our entire end-to-end supply
chain. Working collaboratively with our
customers, we look to innovate and explore
further solutions to ensure that we’re fit for the
future.
A common industry challenge is driver
shortages, which is not something we experience,
however, we’re trying to help address this through
investment in our training academies, with our
second training school recently opening in the
Midlands. We’ve also been awarded for our
continued support to the Armed Forces, as we
look to recruit service leavers and actively
encourage our employees who wish to join the
reserves. In April, we introduced a Driver
Development Programme (DDP) and partnered
with The Logistics Academy to give our drivers the
skills and knowledge to progress their careers. We
also work alongside the Career Transition
Partnership (CTP) to encourage job applications to
Eddie Stobart and increase exposure to the service
leaver community.
Other challenges include increasing levels of
road congestion which has seen road speeds
reduce and the need to have more vehicles to do
the same work. We’ve entered into a partnership
with Highways England to share information on
road speeds, road works, parking locations and
future strategy plans for upgrading the motorway
network.
Looking ahead, how would you like to
develop the role, what plans do you have for
the next 12-18 months and what challenges
lie ahead?
I want to ensure that Eddie Stobart is firmly
established in the bulk and industrial sectors. We
have some further growth already secured for the
end of this year and a solid pipeline to keep that
growth momentum going. We’ll need to cope
with the challenges of the rising fuel prices and
increased congestion, but have plans in place to
address these issues.
How important is the bulk sector to ESL? Is it
an area that the company is keen to grow?
It’s absolutely vital. We’ve made significant
investment in the sector over the past few years
and we have a growth strategy which is already
bearing fruit. The bulk powder tanks in particular
help us offer complementary services to new and
existing clients in this market.
How many vehicles are you currently
operating in the MIB sector and are there any
plans to expand the fleet?
In total we’re operating just under 600 trucks
and just under 800 trailers of various types in MIB.
Of that, we’re running 61 trucks and 65 trailers in
bulk. The fleet has already grown significantly in
the last six months and we fully expect to
continue expanding the fleet both with new
business gains and with our current customers
across all of MIB.
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Who are your main clients in the bulk sector
and what are their main requirements?
We have two main types of client at the
moment: bulk fuels clients and bulk cement
powder clients. Requirements are different
depending on the client, but the common need is
for us to deliver product safely with high service
levels. In order to help meet our clients’ needs, we
offer either dedicated or spot transport solutions
on a fully planned basis or on a resource-only
basis. We can also offer a wide variety of
commercial mechanisms which best meet the
needs of our customers too.
How important is safety and how do you
ensure that your drivers are fully equipped to
deal with the demanding nature of this
sector?
It’s absolutely vital for keeping and winning
business. Eddie Stobart has a strong culture of
promoting health and safety standards
throughout the business and we are continually
Eddie Stobart has been awarded a five-year
contract by building materials business Tarmac.
The contract, effective from December 2018, will
see Stobart help Tarmac’s cement and lime
business restructure from a national to a regional
transport set-up for cement hauliers to deliver an
enhanced service for its customers.
Antony Leighton said of the new contract:
“We’re delighted to support Tarmac in its efforts
to restructure its distribution and supply chain
model to offer a flexible service for customers.
We’re proud to be selected as a trusted partner
through this process and the contract further
underlines our commitment and experience in the
manufacturing, industrial and bulk sector.”
Tarmac will use Stobart’s fleet to help distribute
bulk and packed cement to customers in the
South East of England. The new regional model
will be rolled out with support from Stobart and
will help Tarmac to provide a localised service with
enhanced resilience, flexibility, service, cost and
safety for its customers
Terry Scott, national logistics manager at Tarmac,
said: “Our supply chain and logistics operations
are crucial to maintaining Tarmac cement and
lime’s position as the UK’s market leader. Our new
regional model and strengthened network
capability means we’re able to offer a better, more
flexible service to meet customer requirements
and we’re delighted to be working with Eddie
Stobart and our other regional distribution
partners.”