TIP moves into trucks
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• Trailer rental giant TIP is moving into truck rental and contract hire by buying CSL, which has a fleet of 184 trucks and more than 2,000 trailers, for 222 million. The acquisition gives TIP 15,000 trailers throughout Europe.
Chairman Jim Cleary says the truck business will be expanded throughout TIP's European markets — the company plans to have 2,000 vehicles by 1992. The trucks will all carry the CSL name.
CSL is strong in the north of England and has 12 branches there. Founder Liam Condon will join the TIP board; cofounder Jeff Chapman will become a senior manager taking responsibility for developing the truck operation.
This is the third acquisition by TIP since it was floated on London and Amsterdam stock exchanges in February 1988. In August it moved into the tanker market by buying Greenland Transport, which had a fleet of 72 tankers. In November it bought the 1,200strong trailer fleet of Cetem ITR, which is based in Holland and Belgium.
Cleary says CSL has a lot of customer loyalty in the north of England and its depots complement TIP's existing network. Only two CSL outlets overlap with TIP's and it is likely that these will merge.
CSL's fleet consists of "premium traders", says Cleary, with a large menber of specialised reefers, tankers and garment carriers. "Part of the evolution of the industry has been that it is moving more to high-quality, consumerorientated trailers," he asserts. CSL, which employs 140, made 21.5 million pre-tax profit in the year to 31 December 1987, and 2725,000 for the six months to 30 June 1988. It has depots in Knottingley, Bradford, London, Ellistown. Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Hull, Manchester, Loughborough, Rochester and Stoke.
TIP, which was bought by its management three years ago, has 57 depots in nine countries. It was founded 21 years ago in Rotterdam, opened its first UK depot in Grays, Essex, in 1969, and has 285 staff.