Girl Power Rules in Big Boy’s World

Cunningham Gill is a small, almost all-female company competing in a multinational dominated freight forwarding sector – But punching way above its weight. Glenn Baker talks with director Jan McCallum

Cunningham Gill is no ordinary freight forwarding company. ‘Ordinary’ in this day and age almost implies overseas ownership – but Cunningham Gill is very much locally owned and operated, and passionate about taking care of customers’ needs right down to the smallest detail. They should be skilled at attending to details too, because this is largely a female dominated company – although managing director Jan McCallum says this was never by design. However, she adds, attention to detail is a female trait and a must when moving “large, precious, valuable, out of gauge or time sensitive cargo.” “If the power lines are in the way [of a shipment] we arrange to have them moved, if the load’s too big for the road we’ll find a barge – all the time making sure the price is competitive and there are no unexpected costs or unnecessary delays – another female trait.” So what are the origins of this small but nimble company? Cunningham Gill Limited was established in 1984 by Jan McCallum and Andrew Gill. “Although we were in our early twenties we had both already developed a strong client base which relied on us to handle their logistics,” recalls McCallum. “We were established firstly as a customs broker handling border clearances and on-forwarding. Andrew, who is still our senior customs broker, has a great rapport with customs and extensive tariff knowledge. This, coupled with my bossy, ‘get it done’ attitude saw the business grow quickly.

We attracted clients, through word of mouth or connections, who were either struggling to meet deadlines, had difficult (‘ugly’) freight to move, valuable cargo, or whose own performance was being affected by delays.” The company slogan “From Diamonds to Diggers” still applies today, adds McCallum. “In the mid 1990s we took on a new partner, Richard Philips, to establish the international forwarding part of our business. We needed to control the freight from our clients’ suppliers and this led to us having a network of trusted agents worldwide. We still consider ourselves a small, personal ‘hands-on forwarder’ in a world of overseas owned forwarding giants; but that is what we offer and we are happy with that.” Andrew Gill is no longer a shareholder, and Philips has retired and been replaced by Jan Dupker who came with over 25 years experience at large multinational forwarders in Europe and South Africa. “Jan also had training in security and border issues which, at that time, had not impacted greatly on New Zealand – but now assists clients in the new world we trade in,” says McCallum.

Beating the GFC The past two years have been a huge challenge to the freight industry, which McCallum believes was first to feel the impact of the GFC. “Luckily, being a small owner-operated company we were flexible and hands-on enough to react quickly to the sudden downturn in volumes across the border. We didn’t lose market share; the market simply shrank.“Our diverse range of clients was all hurting but that diversity also meant we were not over exposed to any one particular market segment.” McCallum says they cut down on overheads and ‘frills’ and managed to get through with only one redundancy (they have a staff of nine). “We made sure we kept staff well informed to maintain a happy working environment. “In times like these it’s not only vital to maintain customer service, it is equally important to make sure your greatest asset, your staff, are feeling secure in their jobs and they can see the light at the end of the tunnel. This quick reaction enabled us to maintain our high standard of service,” says McCallum. While they were cutting costs, the two Jans at Cunningham Gill hatched a cunning plan to invest in a member of the opposite sex to concentrate on sales and better position the company for the economic recovery. That ‘bloke’ is Peter Manderson, whom McCallum jokingly says “sucks at golf, but understands deadlines, can drive a digger and knows a frock from a skirt so he can relate to the needs of our fashion clients as well as all our ‘blokey’ clients.” Manderson has stepped up to the plate to drag this female dominated company away from its somewhat conservative mindset and push the Cunningham Gill brand (which McCallum admits could be mistaken for a legal firm) out there to maintain market share.

Cunningham Gill has traded on its good name and word of mouth for the past 25 years. McCallum attributes their success to their small size and old fashioned service philosophy, as well as the ability to know and act on their clients’ needs. McCallum says clients will often circumvent Cunningham Gill’s excellent web-based tracking system and pick up the phone, because they still prefer a human voice at the other end of the line – “it’s more fun, friendly and produces the right answers.

“We don’t want to be the biggest, and we are not the cheapest, but we add a big contribution to clients by dealing with their freight and logistics needs no matter who has control of the freight, them or the supplier,” says McCallum. “A lot of importers use different forwarders from different suppliers and they have no control over their shipments until it reaches their door. We step in at no extra cost; act as their broker; ensure we only make customs declarations on their behalf. We track and we coordinate to give them time to plan before the shipment arrives.” Why you should think local While the economy is slowly pulling itself up by its bootstraps, McCallum still has concerns for New Zealand’s freight forwarding industry – and she says it has not gone unnoticed by clients that certain players have been accused of anti-competitive conduct in the local freight forwarding market. But wait, there’s more. “In bad economic times medium sized companies, those the New Zealand economy is built on, often sell out to overseas owned multinationals. The large multinationals then swallow the New Zealand company and put new global supply policies in place. This can force the local company to use overseas suppliers who often don’t know their business, the local conditions, or their needs.

“We can lose accounts, not because of performance or price, but by decisions made overseas by multinationals who sometimes do not understand the need or value of local support, but are driven by the need for growth through acquisition. This can lead to inefficiency in the supply chain and even reduce the effectiveness of the acquisition. Obviously this is not always the case but something a local agent can offset or shield against.” New Zealand is different to the global supply chain markets says McCallum. “Scale, geography, location of population density, the Cook Strait, the ‘Kiwi way’ – they all reinforce the need for local representation and support.”
For Cunningham Gill, it’s all about being totally service oriented. As clients have reduced staff in the recession, Cunningham Gill has been required to act as their virtual shipping department. McCallum is happy to “keep the big boys honest” and to play up her firm’s somewhat laid-back, get-it-done philosophy. And if that means being “the mother figure in the background taking care of things for the blokes”, then it’s all
good, she says. “Just be aware that if we meet on site, I’ll be swapping my high heels for my gumboots, which are never far away.”

Glenn Baker is editor of NZBusiness.