Oil and gas boom tofuelfreightexpansion
A MULTI-MODAL freight transport operator, which swallowed the last airport-based cargo business on Teesside, is pinning its expansion on the North-east’s burgeoning oil and gas sector.
Camair Freight Solutions, which was born out of a recent merger between Camair at Newcastle Airport Freight Village and BS Freight at Durham Tees Valley Airport, said it planned to extend operations to most of the UK’s key cargo entry points within the next five years.
Camair Freight Solutions’ managing director Paul Bramley said the oil and gas sector, which has seen massive investment in recent months on Teesside, was “a growing market where everything else is shrinking. We will be looking to concentrate on oil and gas because of what’s happening in the region”. The sector had already helped grow the business by 25-30% this year and, despite higher operating costs, Camair was “still making money”, said Mr Bramley.
Both Camair and BSF were acquired in quick succession in cash deals by Casper Shipping, which has offices in Middlesbrough. Mr Bramley said future acquisitions would also be self financed.
With a low capital base and just 10 employees across two offices in the North-east, he said Camair Freight Solutions was better able to respond to rapidly changing demand in the offshore energy sector than its global competitors.
“We don’t own any transport. We buy space on airlines and ocean carriers and if we need to charter a plane or carrier we do it. We are able to react to the market whereas some of our larger competitors cannot because of overheads and the size of the organisation,” said Mr Bramley.
“It’s easier for us to expand our market in the short-term. Obviously, it will plateau out, which I envisage will be two to three years down the road.”
Although Casper Shipping operates from offices along the North-east coast, it does not, as yet, have a base at Teesport. Mr Bramley said that may change with the opening of the Northern Gateway - the port’s £300m deep sea terminal, which will see some of the biggest ocean going carriers in the world docked on the Tees.
“At the moment, our business is split 50/50 between air and sea, but with fuel costs going up a lot of people will go more towards ocean freight and better forward planning. If Teesport became a viable option, it makes life a lot easier than having stuff taken to Felixstowe or Southampton and then brought up here.”
He said development of the £110m, 250-acre Skylink International Business Park at Durham Tees Valley airport, plans for which were officially launched in March, was long overdue.
While Camair will retain a base at the airport, he said owners Peel Holdings would have to do “an awful lot to persuade other carriers to come back in”.
New services from Newcastle to the Middle East and America made it attractive to freight operators, and he was critical of smaller carriers working out for Tees Valley for failing to support the cargo industry.
“Everybody is banging on about carbon footprint, but we have all these trucks driving past Durham Tees Valley Airport on the A1 and A19 on their way to Newcastle Airport only to have to take it back to Middlesbrough. It doesn’t make sense.”
