Fifty years in shipping is being celebrated by Immingham-headquartered Graypen Group, as it eyes up further growth.
The original agency company, incorporated on October 23, 1969, to serve the vessels delivering to the Humber’s new oil refineries, now has operations in every significant 海角视频 port, while playing a leading role on the continent too.
And as it has grown it has diversified, with Brexit bringing opportunity through its logistics division, and an appetite for acquisition at the fore.
Simon Coghlan and Phil Johnson are now at the helm, having clocked up more than 40 years service between them.
Elements of the role have changed dramatically, not least the setting in the state-of-the-art The Bridge HQ by Immingham’s eastern entrance, but there is pride in tradition too.
Mr Coghlan, who joined in 1995, said: “We feel 50 years is a long time in business. I think it says a lot about the company, the customers and the employees who have worked for the business. Our staff are our assets, we are not selling a product, we are in the service industry. We are credible, we have got a great name and a great customer base. Fundamentally we do the same job, but technology has made a huge difference. It has become much more demanding, but also made it simpler.
“Now we are communicating with a ship before it comes in to port, we had none of that before. All customs forms are done over email. Going back even 25 years you were waiting to go on board the ship and you could be on there for two or three hours. The captain knew nothing about the port call and you knew nothing about his requirements.
“Now be it food, fuel, doctors, dentists, ship certification, radar requirements or ship’s chandlery, we know it all now before they dock, it is a much more efficient process.”
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It was purely a shipping agency in the formative years, with 1986 seeing the milestone of exceeding 1,000 port calls rung up. Then from the late Eighties through to 2005 there was a period of expansion around the country. More than 6,000 calls are now handled annually.
“We expanded from one to 23 offices, and then to Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Antwerp in 2012, 2013 and 2014,” Mr Coghlan said. “This year we broke into the top 10 agents in Rotterdam, no mean feat as it is the biggest port in Europe where there are more than 100 agents.”
Graypen Ltd deals with liquid carriers, with GP Shipping the trading banner for dry cargo, while a logistics and freight forwarding business, GP Logistics, was launched five years ago. Due to the values of transactions handled on port calls, the group has a £100 million plus turnover, with revenues of £14 million, and lots channelled into the communities in which it operates.
“We have a lot of suppliers, and these elements are still very traditional,” Mr Coghlan said. “It is a very parochial business, shipping and docks, local suppliers with local knowledge are always better for us. We are proud to provide a modern day shipping agency service based on traditional values.”
Surveying company Bennett Marine was acquired in 2014, then in Devon and now in Southampton, before the latest management buy-out in 2016 from Tim Gifford. He had been part of the buy-out from Hull’s Oughtred and Harrison in 2004.
As well as the early year unveiling of the golden G as a celebration, a 50th party was held at Edinburgh Castle in June, with a flagship event in London’s Sea Containers House, with 345 customers, friends and colleagues enjoying a Thames-fronting gathering in September.
Eyes are set firmly on the immediate future now. “We are going on an acquisition trail,” he said. “We would like to go to the US, we see that as an opportunity.”
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Brexit is another growth potential pillar. “We are really open minded about it,” Mr Coghlan said. “Depending on how it goes our business model may change a little. We may see changes in short-sea to deep sea, but we are strong as a business, we have lots of connections and know lots of people who are ready to adapt.
“We are heavily involved in customs clearance, we have a team that does it, and we could see a lot of growth. We have already had a lot of people coming on to us about Brexit and if we can help them. We hear from HMRC there could be a 365 per cent increase in customs clearances, from 55 million to 250 million - and we specialise in that. We may well gain new customers, while existing ones may see three a month become 15 or 20.”
A team was beefed up in January when GP Logistics moved premises in South Wales ahead of the first deadline. “We geared up heavily for that, and remain geared up now,” he added.
Back in Immingham, and the statement head office opened in 2013 has been a huge hit.
“It has been fantastic for us,” Mr Coghlan said. “We all travel, we see European working environments, and we wanted something like that.”
And they are upbeat about the local opportunity too. “There is huge potential here with Grimsby and Immingham,” Mr Coghlan said. “The refineries are still going strong, renewables is still a massive growth area.”