Atlantic Corporate Relocation - Company Profile
Re-branding is just the tip of the iceberg for
relocations and moving company Atlantic. With a name change under its belt and new offices on the cards for September, Atlantic Corporate Relocation looks forward to consolidating its relocation services and explains how it has affected their approach to operations within the moving side of the business.
Atlantic’s new look
In line with the companies continued expansion into relocation services, Atlantic Worldwide Movers has re-branded to become Atlantic Corporate Relocation. Chris Baker, Group Managing Director of Atlantic, comments: “We decided that it was time for a new name and a new look which will more accurately represent our services. We are still committed to our moving business, but relocation has become such a core part of our services over the last five years that we felt they should be included in our corporate message. I am delighted with the new image. We have launched a new website which is being expanded every day, and we will be updating the imagery on the fleet as well, which will complete the process.”
The strategy behind it all
Atlantic originally specialised in moving fine art, and then expanded into general removals. Chris Baker explains “As the company grew, it became clear that within our corporate customer base there was a call for a fully integrated moving and relocation service. Our clients were looking for one company that could handle both ends of the move, so in order to answer that call, we had to adapt.”
Moving and relocation
There are obvious advantages to the corporate customer who is dealing with just one company for both moving and relocation services. If it’s done properly, then they will have just one point of contact who knows every aspect of their move, from removal details to recommended local schools at the destination location. They should also benefit from other economies such as limited overheads and reduced admin costs.
An integrated, seamless service
Julia Clayden, Group Sales Director for Atlantic has 10 years experience across moving,
management and relocation. “I’ve worked in companies and seen competitors make the transition to offer both moving and relocation services, and having been through it, it has helped me understand and appreciate that in order to give the customer the benefits of the integrated service it has to be done so the service is actually seamlessly delivered.”
Atlantic looked at buying a smaller relocation company, but eventually decided against it. “Although we would have been able to offer the services ‘in house’, in effect this would have meant the relocation and shipping businesses would have remained divorced from each other, with two offices, two teams, two cultures and two sets of processes. The customer gets none of the benefits – HR still has to talk with two sets of people, they don’t capture the potential economies and efficiency increases.”
Instead, they went through the process from the bottom up. “People are the building blocks in business, so that’s where we started”.
New Faces
Because of the way that
Atlantic Corporate Relocation has chosen to go about their expansion, they have been able to recruit and train people so that they have the right level of experience in both shipping and relocation. Over the last three months Atlantic has taken on over 8 new people: Julia Clayden, Louise Smallwood, Lorraine Chandler, Alexa Brenninkmeyer, Jenny Baker, Bernie Mundy, David McWilliam and Tara McMeikan. Many of the new staff are multilingual, and have lived abroad as expats themselves so they can relate the clients’ needs and help them through the relocation experience. Atlantic is looking forward to further new arrivals next month, whose experience will again expand the company’s expertise.
A brand new location
There is value to be had in having the relocation and shipping personnel in one office – not just from an economical perspective, but a culture and business process point of view as well. Although Atlantic’s existing relocation and removals services are currently provided from the same office, the company’s recent expansion will require them move to larger, newly refurbished offices in September. “Working shoulder to shoulder, the relocation and moving staff can really start pulling down boundaries, with experts from both sides working on the same team, sitting in the same offices. It’s only through this kind of collaboration that we can really give our customers the direct benefit of that close working relationship.”
The softer side of moving
Inevitably, offering an integrated service package has meant big changes for their moving services, and Atlantic is hoping that their customers will be feeling the difference. “Both the corporate clients and the assignees will be speaking to just one person for the shipping and the relocation, and they will be able to track everything, access all their assignee relocation details from one extranet. At the moving stage, our customers will experience a softer, more personal touch which is undoubtedly the influence of the relocation service offering. There are some really simple touches which can make all the difference on the day: we can provide both female and male packers with our moving service, and a handyman to put up pictures and do minor repairs; we’re giving our packers rugby style shirts with their names on the back in large letters, so the families can call the packers and removal people by name, and feel confident talking with them right from the off; our packing boxes are already room specific, but now each one will have a unique design – its not really any more expensive, but it just makes a difference to how we are perceived. Once you’ve got the bigger picture and logistics sorted out, it’s that kind of sensitivity to the customers’ experience which will make all the difference.”
Our partners
“Just because we are offering an integrated service, doesn’t mean we don’t still work with other moving and relocation companies internationally. However we have found that our new expertise in these areas has enabled us to increase the efficiency of those partnerships, because we really understand these parts of the process.”
The future
Well on the way towards offering an integrated service, Atlantic will not be stopping here. “We have lots of plans for the next year. We will be reinforcing the new brand and consolidating our service offering. We’re also looking at strengthening our green policy within the next 12 months, and we’ll be launching a marketing campaign in autumn 07 that we believe not only goes a long way not only in strengthening our image as a responsible company but also incentivises our customers by using environmentally beneficial rewards.” Watch this space…
EMPLOYEE PROFILE
Julia Clayden is Group Sales Director at Atlantic Corporate Relocation. A well-known figure in the relocation industry, Julia has 10 years of experience bridging across shipping, management and relocation, and has lived abroad in both Australia and America. Prior to joining Atlantic Worldwide Movers, Julia was the European Sales Director at foursquare Relocation. In February 2001 she opened the UK division of the company and was later instrumental in opening offices in Switzerland and France. She was also involved in the subsequent sales of foursquare to a global relocation management company, Primacy.