Steve O'Connor, chief executive of O'Connor Group, says the acquisition by newly-formed Stobart Group will accelerate the company's plans for growth. O'Connor says association with the iconic haulier may mean retailers and other customers will now consider the Widnes firm as a genuine contender for business. He adds: "Stobart is obviously a superbrand [retailers] can associate with, it brings about credibility [for O'Connor] which is where I see the fit."
Additionally he hopes the combined business will persuade retailers to switch their containerised import distribution to rail. The firm hopes to soon start work on a new one million sq ft warehouse complex adjacent to its existing 39-acre site, due for completion in the next 12 months. O'Connor is excited about the prospect of "several thousand jobs" set to be created by the project.
The group's model is to store customers' freight in the container until it needs to enter the system. The container is then shunted from the storage yard to the warehouse, de-stuffed and its contents processed. O'Connor serves retailers with distribution centres in a 30-mile radius of Widnes but says the new site will have significant environmental benefits through reduced road mileage. For final delivery, O'Connor's new sister company may be employed: "Stobart is far better placed to do the final leg delivery than us," he says.
He insists the model - effectively a 'one-stop shop' for retailers - is flexible customers will be allowed to pick the parts of the supply chain they require, as they may have their own logistics providers to take care of final-leg deliveries. O'Connor also sees the possibility of extending the concept elsewhere in the UK: "Some of my colleagues are looking at strategies to replicate this model nationally."
Presently the firm takes three rail feeder services from both Felixstowe and South-ampton into its Widnes site each day. O'Connor adds: "The problem with building a site at Felixstowe and Southampton is that freight will then have to travel up to 300 miles by road to reach destinations," he says. "Our business was built up to focus on the North-west market."