Spedag plans to double business in three years

Having been appointed as managing director for Spedag South Africa, Gary Geffries has set a target of doubling the business in the next three years. Geffries, who has extensive experience in the industry, has spent his first few months in the hot seat drawing up a growth strategy that will take Spedag South Africa to the next level. “It is an ambitious plan taking into account that we are by no means a small player at present, but definitely not over-ambitious,” he told FTW recently. “We believe our vision is achievable taking into account the market forecasts that we have performed in line with our new marketing and sales strategy.” He said much research had been undertaken in the past two years to identify where the company was planning to grow and how it would achieve its goals. “A lot of back office work has taken place and we are now geared to refine our business plan that will ultimately result in the growth we envision.” As part of this, Geffries has selected a core management team. Neil Harris, who has extensive strategy and market knowledge, has been appointed senior executive of marketing and sales. Anand Reddy, the former managing director, now heads up the financial side of the company as financial director, while Melanie Hirse has been promoted to national operations. Lorenz Pimpfinger continues to handle the special projects of the company, which will remain a large component of the business, said Geffries. “On my appointment in September last year I was given the mandate to firstly re-establish the brand name in the South African market while also developing the market into East Africa where we already have a large footprint and extensively growing our market share over the next three years. With the core management team now in place we are set to start delivering on that mandate.” He said while Spedag South Africa would continue to see some major readjustments in the foreseeable future, the company would not veer away from that which it has a reputation for doing well – project logistics. “It remains a core to the company as it has contributed greatly to our success. “But, we are also branching out into other areas leveraging our extensive East African and then worldwide footprint to become market leaders in our chosen markets. We want to position ourselves as the topof- mind logistics providers in East Africa and believe that through our advancement and acquisition of the company, Interfreight in Africa specifically, we will be able to achieve this.”