NEWS
Johnson Partners managing director Paul Johnson ( centre ) with employees Becky Ralph and Reece Lee outside their premises on Riverside Park Industrial Estate in Middlesbrough .
WORDS : PETER BARRON PICTURE : TOM BANKS
MOVING WITH
THE TIMES
You can ’ t beat personal service , especially when you ’ re trusting a company to move thousands – sometimes hundreds of thousands – of pounds worth of your cargo across the world .
There are many freight carriers in the UK , but a small family business in Middlesbrough takes its work so seriously that they say their customers “ don ’ t need to worry when they hand their cargo over to us because we do the worrying for them .”
These words of Becky Ralph , operations manager at Johnson Partners Freight Forwarding , are endorsed by managing director Paul Johnson , who is very clear about the company ’ s place in a competitive industry .
“ We ’ re a family-run business that offers transportation services for sea , road and air freight , along with all the associated services within the supply chain . Our focus is to be sensitive to the needs of our customers , and we all get personally involved .”
Johnson Partners will move almost anything , anywhere , but they specialise in abnormal loads , project cargo , and outof-gauge cargo , which requires specialist knowledge and experience for the more complicated jobs from engineering or manufacturing companies .
While much of their work comes from well-established industries , they also offer the same professional service to lessexperienced shippers who need someone to do everything for them .
“ Because we have the experience and knowledge , we are happy to take the initiative for these companies and to be proactive ,” explains Paul . “ We can identify the company ’ s needs and provide a complete service .”
Johnson Partners was established by Paul ’ s father , Bernie , in 2004 , after he had worked in steel stockholding and then the transport industry . He intended to create an environment where he enjoyed coming into work and the staff felt valued .
Paul originally trained and worked as a secondary school music teacher , but left the industry in 2005 . He worked part-time in Johnson Partners to help out , before joining as a full-time employee in 2006 .
“ I slowly got involved in doing all the different roles you would find within a small business , which prepared me for when my dad retired five years ago ,” he says .
“ I was keen to develop the working environment that my dad created , by trying to involve the staff as much as possible and allow them autonomy over their job roles .
“ I believe we have a positive working environment in an industry where that ’ s not necessarily an easy thing to do .” Paul has also spent time in other businesses to see how they operated and has worked closely with Teesside University , which he cites as being a great help to the business .
He has completed a Leading Growth leadership and management programme with the university and is currently in the middle of a Master of Business Administration course , which , he says , has taught him how to focus on the way that he will lead the business .
“ We ’ re flexible and work in a give-andtake environment , which creates mutual trust . Working in a positive , friendly and supportive office culture is one of the reasons we come into work , and we feel that ’ s reflected in the service that we offer to our customers .”
As a testament to their customer service and professionalism , much of the work that comes to Johnson Partners is repeat business or from referrals .
Despite their success , they feel they lack recognition , and are not so well known in the industry . They are hoping to raise awareness of what they do , and why they do it , to help grow the business .
Paul says they are very mindful of how lucky they ’ ve been – although it has undoubtedly been through hard work – to have businesses they ’ ve worked with recommending them to other companies .
“ I now feel we have the capacity and expertise to bring in several more staff to take it to the next level , without it affecting the services we provide ,” he predicts .
“ Although our plans from a year ago have naturally had to change , so our immediate challenges are to negotiate our way through coronavirus and Brexit . “ We feel confident that once we ’ ve entered into the new Brexit regime and coronavirus has less impact on our dayto-day situation , we ’ ll be able to start looking at growing the business .”
Find out more about Johnson Partners at johnsonpartners . co . uk .
The voice of business in the Tees region | 37