When Thomas and James Harrison started trading from Liverpool in 1830 their fleet of sailing ships carved a regular passage to France.

Then, as steam overtook sail, the company’s trading interests extended further afield taking in countries such as those in Southern and East Africa, Mexico, the West Indies and South America.

Today the company has shed most of its fleet to become an NVOC – non-vessel owning carrier – but its interest in timber remains unabated.

On January 1 last year Harrison Logistics Ltd was formed, incorporating six companies which, between them, have been trading for more than 400 years.

The name change was designed to take into account the company’s role through expansion into the general forwarding and NVOC sectors. This has been achieved through the development of a comprehensive network of warehousing, distribution and management offices within the UK and Holland, supported by partners worldwide.

There are six companies under the Harrison Logistics umbrella: Henry Tyrer & Co Ltd; Gardner Freight International; Martin Bencher (UK) Ltd; Martin Bencher (Europe) Ltd; Thomas Tweddle & Co Ltd; and Prentice Shipping Services Ltd.

Henry Tyrer & Co Ltd was established in 1879 by Mr Tyrer who originally founded his business trading with West Africa.

Today the company has a transport fleet comprising a wide range of vehicles and extensive modern maintenance facilities, providing a comprehensive transport operation including handling and distribution of sea freight containers.

Wide experience

Based in Liverpool but with representatives at the major UK deep water ports, Henry Tyrer has considerable experience in handling and distributing forest products.

Paul Snape, forwarding manager for the Henry Tyrer division, says the company handled between 125,000 and 150,000 tonnes of timber last year, and this is set to rise to between 175,000 and 200,000 tonnes this year. The majority comes in through Tilbury, the remainder through Liverpool and Portbury, and some 65% of the imports relate to plywood with the rest made up of a mix of timber from around the world.

Name for timber

‘The company made its name trading as a timber organisation and timber still constitutes some 15% of our activity today,’ Mr Snape explains.

Harrison Logistic Ltd’s managing director, Robert Winfield, says the establishment of a separate team to deal solely with timber will allow the com-pany to develop that side of its business.

&#8220We are working closely with shipping lines and companies to provide transport solutions to move timber product from sources to destinations more cost effectively”

Robert Winfield

‘We are focusing on our core competence and looking to grow the business as opportunities arise,’ he says.

‘We are working closely with shipping lines and companies to provide transport solutions to move timber product from sources to destinations more cost effectively.

‘Paul is ahead of the game and always looking for new markets. We are currently in negotiation with some Chinese manufacturers and suppliers to open up the UK market to them for plywood.

‘The Chinese want to export their product and they need help to get the necessary tools to produce plywood to a standard that is acceptable to our trade. They are currently trying to build up volume.

‘Knowing that the Chinese are getting aggressive in getting their goods around the world, we feel they are going to be very strong three or four years down the line. They have a major resource that is relatively untapped and we have earmarked them as a growth area.’

The company has expanded into traditional forwarding activities through its sister company Gardner Freight International (GFI), which was established in 1985.

As principal agent for its own NVOC operation, Harrison Asia Container Line, GFI offers a service to and from the countries of the Pacific Rim, aligning sailing times and ports of destination and departure to customer needs.

UK offices are used to co-ordinate import and export freight movements with a network of agents worldwide. The European division headquarters in Manchester and its sister office in Rotterdam supervise rapid and regular deliveries throughout the UK and Europe for groupage consignments, hazardous shipments and full loads. A network of UK warehouses forms a vital link in the company’s storage and distribution operations.

Six companies

Martin Bencher (UK) Ltd was established in 1881. From offices in Barking the company offers total solutions for all domestic and international transport requirements by air, land or sea, using its own NVOC services. This is backed by dedicated warehouse space providing clients with storage, packing and distribution facilities.

Working in close conjunction with Martin Bencher (UK) Ltd is its sister company, Key Shipping Services Ltd, a freight forwarder.

Martin Bencher (Europe) Ltd offers a daily door to door groupage service to and from European destinations, exercising complete control over the entire movement.

Thomas Tweddle & Co focuses on forwarding services while Prentice Shipping Services (PSS) Ltd deals with general forwarding, customs clearance and NVOC to the more specialised areas of consular work and project forwarding.

Through its sister company, Prentice Fraser Ltd, PSS can offer short and long term warehousing at both Coatbridge, where it has a 2,500 TEU container and haulage yard, and Grangemouth which has 250,000ft² of bonded and general warehousing.