Kiwi tracker now eyeing Europe

Press, 9 November 1988, Page 38

Kiwi tracker now eyeing Europe

From page 37 “We were told by the Railways and by everybody else that we had absolutely no chance of getting what was a very traditional shipping traffic,” he says. “I had to go to Melbourne (Comalco’s headquarters) a few times, but we got it.” By the mid-19705, Mr Dick had Alltrans in New Zealand running smoothly, and he began undertaking jobs for TNT in other parts of the world, including SouthEast Asia and Europe. TNT had a small trucking company in Britain, with one or two vehicles running each night between London and Paris. “In early 1977 we had to decide what to do about our British business. It was too small and it wasn’t doing very well,” says Mr Dick. "I came up in March and April, 1977, and decided that the country was terrific, that the road network was good, the economy was good, there were 55 million people here, and that industry and commerce was reasonably widespread.” It all added up to a successful recipe for a transport operator prepared to put plenty of energy into the business. “The main thing that convinced me that we should develop here was that no-one in the business had any aggression,” he says. “People hardly employed salesmen, there were no such things as even direct mail campaigns or promotions, and service standards were very low.” Don Dick says there was no "red hot” competition in the transport industry, as there was in both New Zealand and Australia. “This was in spite of the fact that here was a small country with good roads, widespread business, and in fact it was ready made for some keen, hot service with some active marketing.” He did not just rush into the British transport industry without researching the situation carefully. As a forward scout he spent months studying existing transport operations throughout Britain, before he came upon the ideal local company on which to build what has now become a transport empire. “I found a parcel business which was just what we wanted. It was north of Manchester, had seven depots, and was run by three Lancastrians,” he says. “They were really our type of people: hard workers who gave a very

efficient service. While they had seven depots they knew they needed about 30 to cover the country, and what was more they wanted to sell.” Hard talking and six months of wooing ensued, and Mr Dick secured Inter County Express, in Ramsbottom, Lancashire, for £2.5 million (SNZ6.7SM). The company was also making a good profit at the time, which helped Mr Dick persuade TNT in Australia to buy the company. “They already had the express concept here, which none of the other carriers did, and they could see we did, too, and that is why they sold to us,” he says. Under Mr Dick’s management, the company has been expanded until it has 35 depots across England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. The original firm’s annual profit has been increased from about £500,000 (SNZI.3M) to several million pounds a year. Once the network of depots was in place, TNT began pioneering new and faster freight services. “Within two years we had become a major force in the parcel business here. We had upset a lot of people, carriers because we were employing sales people and we were pinching accounts they had had for 40 years,” he says. “We really trod on the old school tie,” he recalls with obvious relish. Since then the group has expanded its business at a phenomenal rate, often by being a step ahead of competitors and offering faster and more efficient freight services. The group introduced an “overnight” service, and it promises to deliver anywhere in the United Kingdom overnight. Don Dick says the firm’s competitors did not believe such a service was posible, but now they are trying to imitate it. But he says rivals in the business in Britain still do not have a basic understanding of the thinking behind express delivery services. “The express business is a philosophy, you have to have people who themselves believe there is no other way of doing things other than express it as fast as possible. You can’t afford to fail, even with your smaller customers.” TNT in Britain has expanded into other transport areas, such as contracting to run fleets of vehicles for breweries, and newspaper distribution.

Mr Dick says the company was given publicity through television news items during the Wapping dispute in 1986. “The exposure at Wapping for 12 months was worth 25 million dollars worth of television air time, and that is what really cemented our name home,” he says. "I think we are pretty well a household name in Britain now.” The company has rapidly expanded into Europe in the last few years. It has bought up large and small transport operations in countries including West Germany, Italy, and Spain, and also has large interests in Scandinavia. By early next year the company will have 10 BAE 146 “Quiet Freighter” jet freighters flying to provide an efficient overnight transport service throughout Europe. Don Dick is closely involved in overseeing the continued expansion of TNT Skypak, one of the world’s largest international courier companies, with offices in 142 countries. He travels almost constantly, although while in Britain he works from Skypak’s head office in Windsor, not far from Heathrow Airport. His wife prefers to live in Auckland rather than Britain, because of the climate, and so he returns as often as he can. They have four children, two of whom still live in Auckland; the other two are in Australia. Don Dick still believes there are endless prospects for TNT in Europe, even though the competition is getting tougher. But he appears to be well on his way to achieving his goal of TNT’s becoming as much a transport force throughout Europe as it is now in the United Kingdom.