Stobart

[Dingbat]

stobart,bought. southend airport.last december.to create an air frieght and rail terminal,depot.hoping to fly frieght directly into. london city airport.my question is? is it a good or bad thing. Stobart having the monoply on the British transport industry.instead of the old nationalised .British Road Serviceces. will it become.Stobart National Road Services.Daventry was his first rail terminal ,a few year ago.they have come a long way since then.

[G-CPTN]

In an ideal World (!) all transport would be provided by the State and run 'economically' to provide options for the public (remember RedStar and luggage-in-advance?).
Sadly, the motivation to make things work didn't seem to prevail and these facilities failed (whether by poor management or intransigence of the workers).

Entrepreneurs have evolved that have established themselves (and seem to be swallowing-up competitors).

Amalgamation of road transport with rail and air connections makes sense and removing barriers by incorporating these facilities within one umbrella organisation offers potential cost savings - if only through central accounting.

The danger (IMO) is that, without good local management, factions will become complacent (because of having a 'monopoly') and cease to operate efficiently, (possibly raising charges to compensate) leaving customers without worthwhile 'logistics'.

I have no knowledge or experience of any Stobart operation (other than to see their vehicles on the roads and see photographs here) so my comments are purely speculative.

Operators attempting to compete (especially during recessional times) might have difficulty in remaining competitive and solvent.

[Dingbat]

G-CPTN. Very good response.regards.

[G-CPTN]

As long as (Stobart) operates effectively and efficiently (and the necessary funding is available - either from income or investment for continued acquisition and expansion) then things will probably flourish, however the economic downturn will affect all eventually and pruning and closures will be inevitable.
To some extent, a nationalised industry might continue longer whilst losing money. For private organisations it will depend on the strength of the backing and their confidence to ride-out the storm.

(British Airways is said to be losing £1 million per day . . . )

[Dingbat]

my concern is ,what will happen if or when Stobart have the monopoly.will they dictate the way the transport industry will go.i.e haulage rates[under cut thier competitors],fuel prices [buying in bulk,as they do now].as smaller firms cant keep up with firms like Stobart..also things like supermarket work,i am sure most firms would like to give the in house transport to a third party.as they do a lot of work for tesco,now.regards.

[G-CPTN]

Once any operator has an absolute monopoly they are free to raise charges to whatever they consider the market will pay (until independant operators see the gap and set up in competition).
Of course the economies of scale may permit lower rates to be charged (thus stifling competition).

I doubt that Stobart are interested in local low-volume movements, and probably concentrate on long-term contracts.

[Dingbat]

cheer,s, good comment.

[ceylon220]

Two questions, where did the original Eddie Stobart go and is he still involved in the running of the present Stobart company-- sorry 3 questions, where did these 2 guys get the cash to take over Stobart, surely the way this company has flurished in such a short time they must have some influential backers behind them-----I know when I was in business Stobart was the most hated company on the road, undercutting rates and backhanding firms to get business, one man haulage companies could`nt compete and many went under over Mr Eddie in the 60s & 70s.

[G-CPTN]

Started by 'Steady' Eddie Stobart in the 1950s as an agricultural business in Cumbria, the company was incorporated as Eddie Stobart Ltd in the 1970s as a haulage firm, eventually passing to his son, Edward Stobart. After a series of complex takeovers, the Stobart company has developed from a haulage company to an intermodal logistics company, achieving a stock market listing without an IPO through a reverse takeover of the Westbury Property Fund. Following the step down of Edward in 2003, the Stobart family is now represented in the business through Edward's brother William Stobart.

From:- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stobart_Group

The business was started Started by 'Steady' Eddie Stobart in the 1950s as an agricultural business in Cumbria. His son, Edward Stobart Junior, was born in Cumberland in England on 21 November 1954 at his parents' house just outside Hesket Newmarket near Carlisle. He was one of four children, with an elder sister Anne, an elder brother John and a younger brother William. He was always called Edward to avoid confusion with his father Eddie. He was very interested in lorries, and when he left school, he started working for his father's contracting business delivering agricultural material in the region. By 1970, the company consisted of three main parts: Fertilizer, Haulage and the Farm shop. The various parts were eventually split up between the family members, with Edward having haulage and the name, Eddie Stobart Ltd.

By 2002 the company was experiencing financial difficulties caused by the fuel crisis. In 2001 the haulage business had posted its first loss, with the fan club making more money than the haulage business.
In November 2003 Edward Stobart sold the group to his brother William and his business partner Andrew Tinkler, who together owned a civil engineering company that specialises in railway maintenance, WA Developments, based in Appleby-in-Westmorland, Cumbria.

In August 2007 the Stobart business gained a stock market listing through the reverse acquisition of Westbury Property Fund Ltd, a commercial property and ports company.
Westbury acquired Eddie Stobart Ltd. from W.A. Developments International for £138M, which was recouped by the sale of £142M of property to W.A. Developments International. The renamed Westbury group then became the stock exchange listed Stobart Group Ltd., with Andrew Tinkler and William Stobart becoming substantial shareholders CEO and COO of Eddie Stobart Limited respectively. The Stobart Air operation, owners of Carlisle Airport, remained outside the enlarged group, still owned by WA Developments.
With the Westbury takeover Stobart gained the Port of Weston in Runcorn. At the same time as the Westbury merger it was announced that the "O'Connor Group" was also being purchased by Westlink, at the time a wholly owned business of Westbury. The O'Connor Group operates a truck fleet of approximately 90 vehicles, offering transmodal road rail services at the 'inland port', Widnes Intermodal Rail Depot.
In March 2007 Westbury had also acquired AHC – a rail terminal operator and storage, facilities handling and transport business – operating on a site adjacent to the O'Connor terminal. Westbury also operated a joint venture, Victa Westlink Rail, between its Westlink subsidiary and Victa Railfreight[

n August 2007 the Stobart business gained a stock market listing through the reverse acquisition of Westbury Property Fund Ltd, a commercial property and ports company.
Westbury acquired Eddie Stobart Ltd. from W.A. Developments International for £138M, which was recouped by the sale of £142M of property to W.A. Developments International. The renamed Westbury group then became the stock exchange listed Stobart Group Ltd., with Andrew Tinkler and William Stobart becoming substantial shareholders CEO and COO of Eddie Stobart Limited respectively. The Stobart Air operation, owners of Carlisle Airport, remained outside the enlarged group, still owned by WA Developments.
With the Westbury takeover Stobart gained the Port of Weston in Runcorn. At the same time as the Westbury merger it was announced that the "O'Connor Group" was also being purchased by Westlink, at the time a wholly owned business of Westbury. The O'Connor Group operates a truck fleet of approximately 90 vehicles, offering transmodal road rail services at the 'inland port', Widnes Intermodal Rail Depot.
In March 2007 Westbury had also acquired AHC – a rail terminal operator and storage, facilities handling and transport business – operating on a site adjacent to the O'Connor terminal. Westbury also operated a joint venture, Victa Westlink Rail, between its Westlink subsidiary and Victa Railfreight[

In May 2007 the Stobart Group was the subject of controversy when it reportedly offered bonuses to its Carlisle based drivers to work in Livingston in Scotland, to transport goods for Tesco who were in dispute with its distribution centre drivers and facing disruption to their supply chain. The Stobart drivers refused to cross the Livingston picket line.

On 4 April 2008 controversy emerged surrounding the proposed developments to Carlisle Airport. In response to 63 apparently overly restrictive planning conditions placed on the development plans of Stobart Air, Andrew Tinkler apparently intended to move the Stobart haulage and warehousing operation out of Carlisle, and move them to Widnes, as a contingency 'plan B', asserting the redevelopment under the proposed condition would not be completed in time. By 8 April talks had proceeded, and centred on ten disputed points. On 10 April it was announced that Andrew Tinkler and Carlisle City Council leader Mike Mitchelson shook hands on a revised list of conditions for the plan. However the plans were called in by the Government and Andrew Tinkler withdrew the application. Subsequently a revised application was submitted and a decision was due in December 2008.
Planning permission was granted in December 2008 for airport expansion and other developments including a resurfaced runway and new terminal, a major transport and distribution facility for Eddie Stobart Ltd, along with a joint headquarters building.

Planning permission given for Carlisle Airport development:-
http://www.englandsnorthwest.com/inv...velopment.html

[Dingbat]

ceylon 220.i agree stobart,was the most hated man .all the driver,s i knew hadn,t a good word to say about 'steady eddie'.he put some small firms out of the game .by under cutting rates.[ALLEGEDLY].once again ,there were alleged ,rumour,s that the mormons were behind him financially.i know i joke about the stobart driver,s.but thats all they talked about when parked up.new uniforms and the new lorries they were going to be driving.never talked about pay rates.regards.