Oldendorff Centenary Book - Flipbook - Page 38
OLDENDORFF,
INDIAN-STYLE
When Peter began thinking about
developing the India trades, in
2000, he met up with three people:
Ian Waddell, whom he knew from
Concept Bulk Carriers, Yannis
Efstathiou, an independent broker
from Greece, and they in turn found
Kishore Anchan, an ex-Tata Group
manager who was working as a
broker for Oldendorff in Mumbai.
All three could see that there was
an opportunity for Oldendorff in
India at that time. But what evolved
did not look or feel like the actions of
a German shipping company at all.
The Indian steel mills had excellent
products and were on the brink of
a massive expansion themselves,
but all too often that product had
suffered damages by the time it
arrived at its destination. Kishore
and Yannis – and their team of
locally-recruited staff – implemented
proper documentation, more
effective loading practices and other
innovations. The main consequence
was reducing transit times, improving
cargo care, and helping the steel mills
take back control of their reputation.
VANCOUVER AND STAMFORD:
THE EXUBERANCE OF YOUTH
A similar level of freedom was
given in the Vancouver office.
Although it started under the
guidance of two experienced
practitioners, they soon moved
on leaving twenty-somethings
like Dave Cook, Neil Fletcher and
Michelle Young running the office.
Dave recalls: “We were in at the
deep end. It was scary but we
loved it. We lacked knowledge and
experience, but we were always told
we didn’t have to know everything;
we just needed to know who to call.”
Quick, local decision making was
the key. When Russ McNeil joined
the Stamford office in 2004, he
immediately noted this difference
between Oldendorff and the more
traditional shipping company he
had been working for: “My previous
job was all very political and slowmoving. We used to have great
ideas, but we spent so long talking
about it, we’d talk ourselves out of
it. At Oldendorff, if someone has a
good idea, they go ahead and get
it done.”
Kishore explained: “The steel mills
were smart. They knew there
was an opportunity and that they
needed our expertise. But we had
to adapt to fit the market. We had
to relax a little and behave like an
Indian company, but with German
know-how.”
At no point did Peter insist on this
approach. But he placed complete
faith in Ian, Kishore and Yannis to do
what was commercially right at the
time. He was right to do so: steel mills
began to insist on Oldendorff, and we
soon dominated the market. By 2007
we were shipping 400,000 tonnes
of steel from India every month.
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NO ONE WAITS
FOR TIME ZONES
Vancouver was in the “worst
possible” time zone: 8 hours from
Asia in one direction, 9 hours from
Europe in the other. With a lot of
the business based in Japan, this
meant late nights for the Vancouver
team. The Japanese often played
the trick of delaying a decision until
after lunch, which was already
10pm Vancouver time. But there
was always someone waiting to fix
the business at 1am Vancouver-time
when they got back.
There was a sense of equality
and of purpose. Everyone worked
hard and played hard: Vancouver
waterfront was supposed to be a
“dry” zone, but somehow this didn’t
apply to the Oldendorff annual boat
cruise, and this social dimension
to life at Oldendorff was strongly
encouraged. As Dave puts it: “This
was 100% the Peter Twiss effect.”
In Vancouver, as in all Oldendorff
offices, there is no room for politics
or agendas – just good people having
a great time doing superb work.