Best Logistics
Award Winner
Kuehne + Nagel
Since its inception just three years ago, Kuehne + Nagel’s wine and spirits division has already found its way to the top and has set the standard for best practice in logistics. In recognition of this, the wine industry uses Kuehne + Nagel for around 20% of all bottled wine imported into the UK, and that’s about 15 million cases.
Kuehne + Nagel acquired Seabrook & Smith in March 2003 to strengthen its then still fairly new wine and spirits division. The recent addition of William Martin is further evidence of Kuehne + Nagel’s continued commitment to growth in the wine and spirits industry. An understanding of the need to be competitive has driven Kuehne + Nagel (excuse the pun) to this position of strength in short space of time. They saw that first class service was extremely important to increasing business. Both their competitiveness and experience are winning the company important contracts with major companies in the industry.
A recent coup was when British Airways chose Kuehne + Nagel to manage its wine and spirits logistics, due to the company’s competitive rates, impressive reputation in the wine business, created by the expertise of Seabrook & Smith and the seafreight ability of Kuehne + Nagel.
Partner Content
The Shortlist 2005
FFG HILLEBRAND
FFG Hillebrand is a specialist freight forwarder of wines and spirits, responsible for moving over 400 million bottle a year and accounting for 45% of wine imports to the UK.They maintain a commitment to providing a comprehensive range of quality services that provide effective solutions to both major UK retailers and small independents alike. FFG Hillebrand remains dedicated to meeting and exceeding the changing and evermore demanding needs and expectations of their customers.
LONDON CITY BOND
Internally the company culture is perceived as belonging to a large family. People work closely as a team and there is a high standard of respect gained through performance levels of each employee. In the past year, London City Bond launched their new real time information, which is available to customers on the live website. “Our new systems are the envy of our competitors and stand in a league of their own,†remarks Jeremy Pearson, director. “Management are now kept free to continue managing the business.†With the acquisition of Vinotheque in Burton-upon-Trent from the Lay & Wheeler group, London City Bond have seen further growth in their business in the past year.
SEAWING
In their drive to continue to seek ways of improving their service levels, Seawing recently purchased Landguard International Limited, a prestigious freight forwarding and warehousing company. This has led to the change to Seawing Landguard International Limited. With many years of experience of logistics in the UK and Europe and with their large network of contacts, they were able to enlist reliable carriers, reduce vehicle detention and wasted journey costs and generally raise service levels. “We demonstrate that reliability, flexibility and competitiveness have huge benefits to the drinks industry,†remarks Carl Day, general manager.
