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National Freight Corporation
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The National Freight Corporation was a major British transport business between 1948 and 2000. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and at one time, as NFC plc, was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
Key Information
History
[edit]
The company was established in 1948 as British Road Services (BRS). It was the road transport company formed by the nationalisation of Britain's road haulage industry, under the British Transport Commission, as a result of the Transport Act 1947.[1]
From 1963, the company was administered by the Transport Holding Company and had four main operating areas: British Road Services, BRS Parcels, Pickfords and Containerway & Roadferry.
On 1 January 1969, it was renamed the National Freight Corporation.[2][3][4] On the same date a 51% share in Freightliner was transferred from the British Railways Board (BRB).[5] This was transferred back to the BRB on 1 August 1978.[6][7][8][9]
In 1980, the assets of the National Freight Corporation were transferred to the National Freight Company.[10][11][12] In 1982, the company was sold to its employees as the National Freight Consortium in one of the first privatisations of state-owned industry.[13][14] The new company was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1989 and subsequently became NFC plc.
BRS Parcels was rebranded as Roadline and was sold in a management buy-out as Lynx Express in 1997.[1] NFC disposed of Pickfords in 1999 to Allied Van Lines.[15]
In 2000, NFC plc merged with Ocean Group plc to form Exel plc.[15]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Gordon Mustoe, BRS Parcels Services and The Express Carriers". Nynehead-books.co.uk. 1 January 1955. Archived from the original on 6 October 2011. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
- ^ "Railway road haulage services". Railwaybritain.co.uk. Archived from the original on 10 August 2011. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
- ^ National Freight Corporation Commercial Motor 3 January 1969 page 3
- ^ Now the National Freight Federation Commercial Motor 7 March 1969 page 46
- ^ Freightliners Limited formed Railway Gazette, 7 February 1969 page 86
- ^ Freightliner railway Commercial Motor 25 November 1977 page 6
- ^ Freightliners go back to BR Railway Gazette International December 1977 page 448
- ^ Freightliners Ltd returned to British Rail free of debt Railway Gazette International January 1978 page 5
- ^ Goodwill should remain Commercial Motor 21 July 1978 page 6
- ^ In Brief Commercial Motor 5 July 1980 page 5
- ^ NFC dead NFC born Commercial Motor 20 September 1980 page 5
- ^ NFC denationalised this month Modern Railways September 1980 page 435
- ^ Its a deal: Howell yes to NFC buy-out Commercial Motor 24 October 1981 page 3
- ^ NFC is over hurdle Commercial Motor 20 February 1982 page 4
- ^ a b NFC and Ocean forge £3.2bn alliance to exploit e-commerce The Independent 22 February 2000
Further reading
[edit]- E.J. Gubbins (2003). Managing Transport Operations. Kogan Page. ISBN 978-0-7494-3928-6.
- Bonavia, Michael (1987). The Nationalisation of British Transport: The Early History of the British Transport Commission, 1948-53. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 0333419006.
- Morton, Ian (February 2008). "British Road Services". Hornby Magazine. No. 8. Hersham: Ian Allan Publishing. pp. 114–116. ISSN 1753-2469. OCLC 226087101.
National Freight Corporation
View on GrokipediaOrigins and Nationalization
Pre-Nationalization Context
The United Kingdom's road haulage industry was nationalized under the Transport Act 1947, which vested long-distance operations in British Road Services (BRS), a subsidiary of the British Transport Commission.[7] BRS acquired approximately 3,800 private firms between 1948 and 1951, building a fleet that peaked at 35,849 vehicles before subsequent reductions, and maintained dominance via a restrictive quantity licensing regime that limited private A-licence carriers.[8] This structure prioritized integration with rail but stifled competition and innovation in road transport.[9] The incoming Conservative administration enacted the Transport Act 1953 to denationalize the sector, authorizing the sale of BRS units to private buyers and easing licensing requirements, which shrank the BRS fleet to 16,077 vehicles and fostered rapid private expansion.[8][7] BRS persisted as a public operator, albeit diminished, while the private sector proliferated, with road freight tonnage growing at 5.8% annually from 1952 to 1970 and lorries doubling in number during the 1950s and 1960s.[7][10] Entering the 1960s, the industry exhibited severe fragmentation, with around 124,000 licensed operators, over half operating a single vehicle, engendering overcapacity, price undercutting, and suboptimal efficiency despite rising demand.[11] The 1965 Geddes Committee report critiqued the licensing system's failure to enhance safety, service quality, or resource allocation, amid disjointed public efforts between BRS and British Railways' ancillary road fleets.[11] These inefficiencies, including low profitability and inadequate modernization, underscored the rationale for consolidating public freight assets into a unified entity under the Transport Act 1968.[7][12]Formation via Transport Act 1968
The National Freight Corporation (NFC) was established under Part I of the Transport Act 1968, which constituted it as a public authority responsible for integrating freight transport services in Great Britain.[1] Section 1 of the Act outlined its general duty to provide, or secure the provision of, services for the carriage of goods by road and rail, with a priority for using rail transport where it was efficient and economic, while cooperating with the British Railways Board to ensure integrated operations.[13] The Corporation's members were appointed by the Minister of Transport and operated under Schedule 1, which defined its constitution and financial framework.[1] NFC commenced operations on 1 January 1969, coinciding with the transfer of assets from the Transport Holding Company and the British Railways Board, including road haulage undertakings such as British Road Services (BRS), which was renamed the National Freight Corporation on that date.[14] Under Sections 4 and 5, the Railways Board transferred 51% of its shares in the Freightliner company and 100% in the freight sundries company to NFC, facilitating coordinated road-rail freight services.[15] The Act granted NFC broad powers under Section 2, including carrying goods by road, arranging rail haulage, providing storage, operating depots, and coordinating with other entities to promote efficiency and economy in freight movement.[16] The formation aimed to consolidate publicly owned freight resources post-nationalization efforts, building on earlier entities like BRS established under the Transport Act 1947, to address fragmented services and enhance national logistics capabilities.[3] Financial provisions included ministerial support up to £60 million over five years to offset potential losses from integrated operations, reflecting the government's intent for long-term viability through break-even targets.[14]Operations and Structure
Organizational Framework
The National Freight Corporation (NFC) operated as a statutory public corporation established on 1 January 1969 under the Transport Act 1968, with its board members appointed by and accountable to the Minister of Transport.[17][3] The initial board comprised a full-time chief executive, G. W. Quick Smith, and seven part-time members, including future managing director D. E. A. Pettit, under chairman Sir Reginald Wilson, who was appointed in December 1968 with an annual salary of £16,000.[17][18] By 1976, management leadership had transitioned to Sir Dan Pettit, emphasizing commercial decision-making such as investing in profitable units and divesting underperformers.[3] NFC adopted a federated organizational structure, comprising over 50 semi-autonomous subsidiaries to promote operational flexibility and market responsiveness, rather than rigid centralization.[3] This decentralized model granted maximum independence to individual companies, allowing them to function as profit-oriented entities while under central oversight for strategic integration of road and rail freight services across Great Britain.[3][17] Subsidiaries inherited from the Transport Holding Company included British Road Services Ltd. (the core general haulage operation), Pickfords Ltd. (specializing in removals), and British Express Carriers Ltd., with additional control over National Carriers Ltd. (parcel services) and a 51% stake in Freightliner Ltd. for containerized rail-road integration.[17][2] Functional groupings were planned to cluster related subsidiaries, such as bundling National Carriers with BRS Parcels, supported by a fleet exceeding 30,000 vehicles.[17] The framework prioritized economic efficiency, mandating rail prioritization where viable and aiming for break-even operations, with up to £60 million in government grants available over five years to cover deficits from integrated services like National Carriers.[17] Subsidiary-level full-time executives handled day-to-day commercial activities, while the part-time central board focused on policy and coordination, fostering a balance between autonomy and national transport objectives.[17][3] This structure enabled two-thirds of subsidiaries, such as Pickfords and Roadline, to achieve profitability amid broader challenges.[3]Key Services and Subsidiaries
The National Freight Corporation's core services centered on road-based freight transport, including general haulage of goods within Great Britain, specialized parcel delivery, and household removals. It also facilitated international road haulage and maintained contracts with the British Railways Board for rail-linked carriage, emphasizing intermodal solutions like containerized transport. Ancillary operations encompassed warehousing, goods storage, consignment agency services, and combined through-transport arrangements, including revenue pooling and integrated rates across road, rail, and limited sea modes (subject to ministerial approval).[17] NFC operated through a decentralized structure of over 50 subsidiaries by the mid-1970s, primarily in road haulage and logistics support, allowing specialization while coordinating under central oversight. Key subsidiaries included British Road Services Ltd., which handled bulk general freight and contract distribution; BRS Parcels Ltd., focused on time-sensitive small-package delivery; and Pickfords Ltd., dedicated to domestic and international household moving and storage.[3][2] Freightliner Ltd., established under the Transport Act 1968, provided dedicated intermodal rail freight services, integrating container terminals with road collection and delivery.[19] Other notable subsidiaries supported niche operations, such as Containerway and Roadferry Ltd. for combined road-rail-sea container services, British Roadrailer Services Ltd. for piggyback road-on-rail transport, and Containerbase Ltd. variants for regional terminal management.[17] This subsidiary network enabled NFC to control approximately one-third of Britain's long-distance road freight market during its public ownership phase, though operational silos sometimes hindered efficiency.[3]| Subsidiary | Primary Focus |
|---|---|
| British Road Services Ltd. | General road haulage and contracts[2] |
| BRS Parcels Ltd. | Parcel and express delivery[17] |
| Pickfords Ltd. | Household removals and storage[2] |
| Freightliner Ltd. | Intermodal rail freight[19] |
| Containerway and Roadferry Ltd. | Container transport integration[17] |
