MAKING HIS MARK IN EUROPE

EU enlargement to include Bulgaria and Romania from January 1 2007 is just the starting point for an ambitious business push into untapped regions of Europe including Turkey and Ukraine, according to Mark Mulder, the new commercial director for P&O Ferrymasters.

Mulder, who joined the European freight management specialists from TNT in the Benelux, says Eastern Europe is high on his business agenda for next year.

“I believe this part of Europe including the EU’s latest newcomers Bulgaria and Romania will become the turning point for future expansion of the European logistics market, taking in countries like Greece and Turkey where we already have commenced intermodal services, and launching into Ukraine,” said Mulder, who is based in Amsterdam.

Mulder, who spent 10 years in the maritime industry, sees an important future for P&O Ferrymasters intermodal business which has grown dramatically over the last five years, a fact underpinned by the company recently signing a new three year deal with ERS to increase movements.

He has spent the last two months travelling around Europe as part of the process to develop and prioritise P&O Ferrymasters’ commercial strategy for the rest of the decade.

“We have set our targets up to 2009 and our main objective is to enhance our position as a key European player in every business we are engaged in. We will seek further geographical spread for our three main services; freight management, asset-based trailer operations and intermodal activity.”

Mulder says that Ferrymasters will concentrate on growing its pan-European customer base - those businesses that require distribution services across and within more than one territory and require the flexibility of more than one service offering.