Company Report: Seko Synergy
Seko Synergy Managing Director, Keith O'Brien tells Exec how Seko Synergy keeps customers happy while increasing the company's share in a consolidating market

Seko Synergy was founded in 2003 when Managing Director, Keith O'Brien, decided against a future in the usual multi-national corporation and instead decided to set up his own company.

Keith developed an interest in freight services during his first main position working in Scotland. He later relocated to London and then Manchester, where he honed his knowledge in the sector and was soon fast-tracked to a senior management position working for Brantford International, the air freight arm of ocean giants OOCL.

In 1996 Mark White - then Managing Director of Ultimex Global Logistics, a freight forwarding company, and now Chairman of Seko Synergy - approached Keith. He wanted help setting up a presence of the company in the North of England. Keith relished the challenge, but Ultimex was sold to a multinational. This move was a good one for the company at the time but Keith recognised that the industry was consolidating heavily and leaving gaps in the market. He decided to move back down to London to set up Seko Synergy - a company offering comprehensive supply chain management and logistical solutions.

At this stage, Seko Synergy was a company that boasted two people and a couple of laptops. But that wasn't for long - the company now has 170 staff in the UK and offices worldwide.

This year, Seko Synergy will report a turnover in excess of US$55 million and has worked with clients in a wide range of sectors including fashion, lifestyle, high tech and hotel and travel. It is proud to have a number of household brands in its portfolio of customers including Molton Brown, Reiss, Pout Cosmetics, Pink soda and Filofax.

The company has been named in the Sunday Times' Fast Track 100 report two years running and has won various other industry awards, including the IFW Supply Chain Excellence Award and the industry's regulator BIFA awards for service in Airfreight, Technology and Supply Chain Excellence.

Unlike others
The combination of two very successful private companies, both market leaders in their particular areas of expertise - global supply chain management and outsourced logistics solutions - Seko Synergy offers a unique end to end service. "In this industry, Seko Synergy sits as a medium-sized company," explains Keith. "And for that reason the company is able to offer a range of services that the larger multinationals and our smaller competitors cannot. Our size allows us to be more dynamic and responsive to our clients' needs.

"We aim to offer a suite of product offerings across the entire supply chain," explains Keith. "Shipping and warehousing are just part of the services we provide. We help our customers manage and streamline global fulfilment - effectively offering a total outsourced solution. Seko Synergy offers everything from procurement to web based purchase order management and order fulfilment tools, from traditional freight forwarding and logistics services to vacuum packing and garment processing.

"The supply chain industry is constantly evolving and, as a company, we must think ahead of the competition and continue to bring solutions to our clients." Keith adds.

Across the globe
Seko Synergy is part of the SEKO Global Logistics Network. It has over 120 offices in 40 countries worldwide - this ensures that the company can service its customers' suppliers around the globe and, most importantly, in the higher production and emerging markets.

"As the customers decide to expand abroad, we hope to move with them. We can help them logistically do this. Recently we opened a logistics centre in New Jersey. The sole purpose was to help one of our clients increase their own foothold in the USA market. Our solution enabled them to increase efficiency in delivering goods to stores while delivering substantial savings."

"In the next 3-6 months we're going to be opening offices in Hong Kong and in Germany. We already have logistics facilities on the East coast and in the Midwest of the USA and South and North China."

"Expansion worldwide is high on the agenda but we're always on the look out for other similar minded people who are perhaps fed-up working for large multi-national corporations.

"These are the kind of people we want to get involved in the business in the future."

Partnership
"We take a partnership approach to suppliers," explains Keith. "We share our knowledge with them and bring them into meetings with customers. Longevity of relationships with customers and suppliers is high on our priorities. Our client base reflects just that."

Currently, Seko Synergy is partnered with various companies that work in specific sectors of the supply chain - all within their own area of expertise. These include Hexagon Consulting (customs & duty consultants), Large Design (web & graphic design) and Indigina Technologies Ltd (supply chain management software suppliers). Keith explains "We do not claim to know everything, our partners are extremely valuable to our business."

Driven by people
None of this would be possible however, if Seko Synergy did not invest in its people.
"Our culture is very much driven by our people," explains Keith. "They are extremely customer focused and really value the bigger picture of the business.

"Seko Synergy rewards their hard work. We're continually investing the company's profits back into the structure of the company and a profit sharing scheme has recently been set up for senior management.

"We also have an 'Employee of the Month' incentive - one for back office and administrative staff and one for customer facing employees. Staff who excel and win this accolade each month are rewarded in a number of ways including recognition throughout the company which can leads to a higher chance of promotion in the future.
"We really do value all of our staff's hard work and recognise that what they do can contribute to the future success of the company.

"Every year we also have a manifesto - a business plan or guide to what we want to deliver to our customers and staff. This gives us all focus and targets of what we would like to accomplish in the year ahead."

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