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Shipping giant MSC is moving all work previously contracted to Turners Group firms Macintyre Transport and Goldstar to Maritime Transport, the company it acquired 18 months ago.
In a letter to staff, Turners MD Paul Day said that following a meeting with MSC, it intended to transfer over all of the work from 20 April.
Day said this was contrary to earlier discussions, in which it was led to believe MSC wanted to offer more spot work to the hauliers.
However, Day has also told Motor Transport he had the highest respect for the MSC management.
Due to the scale of the loss of the work within Macintyre, it is understood a significant number of staff will be eligible to transfer to Maritime under TUPE regulations.
Day said the intention now was to merge the remainder of Macintyre into Goldstar in order to create a sustainable business.
In the letter, Day said: “We are developing our business with our other customers and whilst we think it is impossible to replace the MSC volume in full, we are optimistic we will continue expanding with other customers at a faster rate.
“I would like to stress that MSC’s decision is based around their purchase of Maritime and in no way is this a reflection of any service issues. In fact, MSC praised both Macintyre and Goldstar for the service levels that they have received.”
Asked for comment on the contract switch, Day told Motor Transport: “We are naturally disappointed with the news.
“Since MSC purchased Maritime, it’s natural for Maritime to receive an ever-increasing proportion of MSC work.
“We have enjoyed an excellent relationship with MSC, I have the highest respect for the management; they have made clear the service provided by Goldstar and Macintyre has been excellent but they must support their own company, Maritime.”
Day added that it was now evaluating the implications for affected individuals and he was not yet in a position to comment on how many employees could be transferred over to Maritime.
“We will regroup and Goldstar will continue to serve its customers in exactly the same way,” he said.
“Goldstar is a large company and, whilst any loss of work has implications, it will not materially affect the business.
“All other Turners companies do not work for MSC and are not impacted in any way.”
Maritime had not responded as we went to press.
The company was purchased by MSC’s overland subsidiary Swiss-based MEDLOG in September 2024.
