Six months since the official
acquisition of Contract
Forwarding by CEO Chris
Waterson from the Mvela
Group, the company has
performed ahead of budgeted
expectation and Waterson
is upbeat about even better
results in the year ahead.
When Mvela chose to exit
the clearing and forwarding
business last year, Waterson
grasped the opportunity with
both hands.
“Contract Forwarding,
which was established in
1983, has always delivered
good results – but while
Mvela sought out large
companies with high
margins, the clearing and
forwarding business is a
high turnover, low margin
business,” Waterson told
FTW.
“Mvela therefore chose to
exit the business not because
it was unprofitable but
because it was not part of its
vision.”
And the move has been
a very positive one for the
company, he added.
“It releases us from
corporate pressures to
deliver a margin that a
freight company cannot
do and allows us to make
independent decisions on the
direction we want to take.”
Key to the company’s
competitive advantage
is its membership of the
global FFSI network – an
association of freight
companies that allows
two members per country.
Contract Forwarding joined
in 2004 and Waterson is
currently CEO of FFSI.
“It gives us a network
of more than 100 members
worldwide, allowing us to
compete favourably with
multinationals.”
For the foreseeable
future, Contract Forwarding
will focus strongly on the
South East Asia and Indian
subcontinent, where FFSI
is well represented. Its core
business is international
imports by sea and air.
“In China, for example,
we have two members per
locality, so the coverage is
massive.”
The company’s client base
is generally in the small- to
medium-sized range. “We
compete on service,” says
Waterson. “Our staff is
very hands-on and we’ll do
whatever it takes to meet
expectations.
“If there’s an urgent parcel
to be delivered and it can fit
it a car, any one of us will do
the delivery.”
And while Waterson
doesn’t believe that the
recession is behind us,
he’s confident that the
company will continue to
deliver beyond budgeted
expectation, with the third
quarter already recording
positive results.
CAPTION
Chris Waterson ... massive China network.
