Vanguard and ILA ready for growth

Following the announcement

last week that global neutral

NVOCC Vanguard Logistics

Services had acquired local

neutral groupage operator

International Liner Agencies,

management on both sides

were upbeat about the positive

benefits that this would

bring to the company and its

customers.

“Expanding our geographic

footprint is part of Vanguard’s

strategic plan,” US-based

chief financial officer Thurso

Barendse told FTW in

Johannesburg last week. “We

are the largest neutral NVO

in the world and we want to

continue to grow the business

through a variety of strategic

initiatives, one of which is

geographic expansion.

“We’ve had a working

relationship with ILA for

six years where they have

represented us out of Asia, and

in the last year out of the US,

and we believe we have a very

good cultural fit.”

It’s a sentiment shared by

ILA managing director Rod

Taylor who sees immediate

benefits for ILA customers.

“Vanguard already offers

services to South Africa that

we haven’t offered in the past

and we will be in a position

to develop new markets. The

immediate priority however

is the smooth transition of

our two businesses into one

organisation.”

Vanguard has identified

Africa – and South Africa

in particular – as a market

of significant potential. “It

was a gap in our strategic

footprint and we want to focus

more aggressively on Africa,”

said Barendse. “We recently

opened an owned office in

Egypt and continue to look at

opportunities on the continent –

which will either involve owned

offices or branded agencies.”

ILA currently runs crossborder

services to several

neighbouring countries and

deep-sea services to East

and West Africa. “With the

consolidation of loads under

the Vanguard umbrella, we will

be able to maximise volume

which will impact positively

on profitability,” said ILA

marketing director Raymond

Cutts.

For Vanguard, one of the

attractions of ILA was the

strength of the management

team and quality of the staff,

said Barendse.

“We acquire to grow and

believe the combined volumes

we bring to ILA are likely

to expand and grow the

organisation which could

mean the need for additional

staff.”

In an increasingly

commoditised market value

add is a key differentiator.

“By expanding the network to

encompass one of the global

leaders in terms of NVO we

can now offer end-to-end

solutions with an IT platform

that offers visibility through

one company,” said Cutts.

Vanguard currently has

company owned offices in 28

countries and operates in more

than 100 countries.

Despite the gloomy

economic outlook globally,

Barendse believes that LCL

will always play a crucial role.

“We expect that our market

will grow at around 2-3%.”

The name of ILA, which

was launched 21 years ago,

will ultimately change, but the

rebranding exercise will only

begin once the transition has

been smoothly bedded down.

CAPTION

Team Vanguard/ILA front row: Les Mol (ILA financial director); Rod Taylor (ILA

MD); Kevin Taylor (sales director); back row Raymond Cutts (ILA marketing

director) and Thurso Barendse (Vanguard CFO).