Cardinal recently marked 25 years in business by joining the growing number of national employee-owned businesses across the UK. Logistics Voices recently sat down with Brian Hay to discuss the reasons behind Cardinal’s move to an employee-ownership model and explore how the logistics sector has evolved in the wake of Brexit and rising trends in digital transformation.
What are Cardinal’s values and why are they important to the company’s legacy?
Simply put, we believe that excellence and dedication should be rewarded.
Since forming in Eccles with a £15,000 loan 25 years ago, Cardinal has become one of the biggest, best-known logistics businesses in Britain. We reached this point because of our staff, and we felt the best way to take the next step as a business was by giving them a stake in our success.
This has ultimately led to us our new status as the world’s biggest employee-owned logistics company. Our people are our most important asset – and with this model, they can reap the benefits of the business’ achievements in a more tangible way.
We have always tried to build a company with people that are passionate and have the ability to make a significant and valuable contribution to our vision, and reward them with any resource that is abundantly available.
How would you describe Cardinal’s business journey and what have been the biggest challenges you have faced?
25 years is a long time in any sector – and we have had to deal with huge challenges just like any other long-standing business that operates across different countries all around the world.
Multiple recessions and wars have forced us to change tact and pivot our approach in various ways, but perhaps the most serious threat our company has ever faced was the COVID-19 pandemic.
What would you say are the biggest benefits of transitioning to an employee-owned business model and what was the main reason behind Cardinal’s decision?
Aside from giving our hard-working staff the chance to share in the profits – this democratisation model also helps to preserve an employee-first culture that brings the best out of everyone in the workplace.
Who we are, how we conduct ourselves, and how we treat one another at Cardinal makes for a special atmosphere. Over the course of the next 12 months, the benefits of our new model will become apparent, but this is a long-term solution and we are excited for the future.
Have you noticed a change in your company culture since moving to an employee-owned business, if so, how would you describe it?
In addition to the financial benefits, we have noticed an increased sense of ownership amongst the employees. The team feels more involved in the business and the company has become as much of an emotional investment as a financial one.
Cardinal feels like more of a community than ever before; customer service levels have improved, our employees feel more heard and are more forthcoming with innovative ideas as they feel it’s benefiting them too.
We have noticed a massive change in such a short time, so we are excited to see what the future holds for all our employees.
Businesses across all industries have been impacted by Brexit, in what way has it impacted the logistics and supply chain sector?
The 2016 referendum changed businesses across the UK, irrelevant of the industry, but working in logistics and supply chain provided some unique and unavoidable challenges.
Between a significant reduction in UK foreign investment, higher prices for imported goods and a slump in the British pound, the world of UK business was a difficult one to navigate. Despite this, Brexit’s impact on trade and the UK supply chain was manageable. That is until the Trade and Cooperation Agreement came into effect in 2021. This regulation signified the end of the transition period, meaning businesses faced higher tariffs and restrictions when looking to reconfigure their supply chains.
Many UK businesses adopted emerging strategies to transform their supply chain, such as supplier diversification and nearshoring. It’s not an understatement to say that companies who diversify their supplier portfolio and consider alternatives in the domestic market are more likely to fare better in the longer term.
Whether you look at it from a business, social or fiscal perspective, we have all been impacted by the ramifications of Brexit, and most likely not for the better.
Digital transformation has the ability to change industry practices to become more efficient, how has Cardinal incorporated technology into its business?
At Cardinal, we have always believed in staying ahead of the curve and using technology to our benefit. As a technology-led logistics business, we aim to develop products that increasingly help our clients manage efficient and cost-effective supply chains.
As a result we developed Leda, a highly intuitive supply chain platform that provides information on shipments in real-time and gives a comprehensive view of our client’s supply chain operations. This means our clients gain true visibility of their supply chain, but it also enables them to manage vendors by exception with improved control over inbound shipments.
One of the biggest issues facing the logistics industry today is shipment tracking, and vendor compliance and communication issues. Leda offers dashboards and reports to monitor desired KPIs for each vendor. The platform also helps to reduce shipping costs, improves our clients’ ability to meet production or delivery target dates, and enables them to better manage order consolidation and load planning.
