Palletways UK gets own team
Palletways, the network operator, has promoted Jon Hyatt from operations director to managing director of the UK business. He joined the business two years ago, having been divisional general manager at Wincanton. Cath McCann moves up to operations director, with a background in operations and having spent more than a year as group human resources manager. The changes free up Julian Maturi – also formerly with Wincanton – to concentrate on new developments in Europe. Palletways chief executive James Wilson, who bought into the company this summer along with new majority shareholder Phoenix Equity Partners, says the changes are in line with the company’s expansion plans. It is appropriate for the UK to have its own management, rather than simply having a single management structure for the whole group. Wilson says the company has had regional meetings with the principals in network member companies, explaining how Palletways intends to add value to the members’ businesses. There will be better IT and wider and even more flexible products. Palletways will also make it easier for logistics integrators to use its services, he says. It is already taking thousands of pallets a week on behalf of such firms and another major logistics player is currently trialling the network, he says. “We are not seeing any customers moving from Palletways to integrated networks – we are not seeing that at all.” Meanwhile, some network members have asked for long-term membership agreements. “They feel and recognise that they have been getting a value add by being in the network,” Wilson says. Individual negotiations have been held and agreements made between Palletways and network members. “I can confirm our negotiations (with individual members) are in response to members wanting a contractual relationship,” he says. His comments came in response to a suggestion that Palletways has, in effect, been selling long-term franchises in order to raise cash. “That is not true,” Wilson says. Wilson says that the network is already well above the highest period last year, which was shortly before Christmas; that level was passed in early September.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Reed Business Information Ltd.
Cathcart post
Daily Telegraph, p 29 10-04-2004
Alun Cathcart, chairman of Avis Europe and The Rank Group, has taken a new chair as boss of Palletways Holdings. Palletways was bought by private equity firm Phoenix Equity Partners in a management buyout in July.
