Visiting Multimodal 2017 at the NEC this week?

Visiting Multimodal 2017 at the NEC this week?

The Multimodal exhibition is well worth a visit as it’s very compact and you can visit the stands of many companies, be they logistics providers, shipping lines, freight publications or even port operators such as Liverpool or DP World.

Multimodal 2017

Of course, if you’re an importer or exporter, you can talk with the people from the logistics providers who are there (there’s usually around 5-6 well known ones) although they will often be fairly senior and from their London office, so will rarely be the people you would need to meet and discuss your traffic, needs, frustrations etc.

So, it’s certainly worth visiting and you will no doubt come away with a carrier bag full of brochures and giveaways – and I think there lies the dilemma – you walk away armed with info, ideas and great sales pitches but what are these companies really like to work with and are they even competitive from a rate and service perspective.

Furthermore, you may do what many of us do, put the brochures in your “to do” tray, fall back into the cut and thrust of day to day operations within your business and do nothing and before you know it, a month has passed.

If that’s you, why don’t you give us a call – we understand what it’s like to be an importer or exporter and more than that, we have a vast amount of knowledge and real world experience, have probably helped a company just like yours and could also take all that work involved with a review from you, reduce your costs, improve your compliance and tailor the service provided by a new logistics provider to your individual needs.

Not only that, we offer shared savings models which means that we do all the heavy lifting and you see the service, communication, financial and other benefits without having to become overly distracted from your primary role. It’s what we do and we’re good at it. So please do give us a call, as they say, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Take a look at our SCL website, it’s straightforward, clear and concise, we wrote it in plain English -  there’s enough confusing industry terminology out there and it makes the task even more daunting!

Andy Cliff is an industry professional who launched his own logistics consultancy, Straightforward Consultancy Ltd (SCL) after a 30 year career in international logistics, working for companies such as DB Schenker, Kuehne & Nagel and DHL Global Forwarding in operational, sales and management roles.

Andy was part of the judging panel for the 2016 Global Freight Awards, his second year in this prestigious role. The awards recognize quality, innovation and performance in the field of international logistics.

Andy felt that in an increasingly complex and confusing world of logistics, UK importers and exporters needed a company alongside them which could help them to reduce costs, lessen their workload and provide expert advice and support day-to-day.