Paul Stiller, MD of Stiller Group, says rumours of the firm's demise have been greatly exaggerated, despite last week's sale of a sizeable chunk of the operation to Hargreaves Services (MT 8 Oct).
Stiller, who is now back in day-to-day control for the first time since becoming chairman in 2005, says the
future is bright for the remaining group business: Stiller Warehousing & Distribution.
He says: "I feel that the timing was exactly right in so far that the amalgamation and merger of the [Stiller Tankers and Imperial Tankers] fleets was the best thing to do for the sake of the customers and staff, for me and my family, and for what I want to do with the rest of my business.
"People will always speculate, but there's no demise here - we have scaled back."
Stiller plays down suggestions that it was forced to sell the tanker operation, pointing out that it was still profitable.
However, he believes that the shrinking industrial base in the North-East would be unable to support two competing businesses in the future.
The much-reduced company has a turnover of around £12m, but Stiller believes he can grow this. However, he acknowledges that the rapid growth of Stiller Group in the past also contributed to its problems.
He believes the smaller
business is a more manageable size, helping the succession of his son, Matthew, who is currently a management trainee at the firm.
Stiller retains its long-standing membership of Palletline and two FMCG warehousing operations: Newton Aycliffe in County Durham, which offers 250,000ft² of storage and serves as the firm's headquarters; and Darton, South Yorkshire, with 600,000ft².
In addition, the company is about to move to a new five-acre site in London's Docklands as it looks to expand its construction logistics business.
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