20) Andrew Tinkler, chief executive, Stobart Group
Tinkler strengthened his position at the top of Britain’s best known haulage firm at the beginning of 2013. He survived an attempted boardroom coup, that could have seen former Autologic boss Avril Palmer-Baunick take charge of the group as a whole, potentially breaking up its constituent, multi-modal parts. That came to nothing in the end and Tinker was able to calm the waters, as Palmer-Baunick left in May.
Weeks later he signed a new three-year contract with Tesco, formalising its role as primary and secondary distribution service provider. Stobart has worked with Tesco on a “pay as you go” basis for the past eight years and provides secondary distribution to nine Tesco DCs in the UK and one in the Republic of Ireland.
Since then he’s overseen the integration of Autologic into the wider Stobart business , updating its automotive fleet with new and remounted vehicles. He also saw Stobart discontinue its chilled operations “as a stand alone unit”. It’s hard to imagine 2014 passing quietly at Stobart under Tinkler’s leadership.
