Glenn O’Sullivan from Refrigafreighters, a chilled and frozen goods transporting company, joined...
Glenn O’Sullivan from Refrigafreighters, a chilled and frozen goods transporting company, joined The Icehouse on the 31st Owner Manager Programme. This is part one his three part case study.
Glenn O’Sullivan bought 50% of Refrigafreighters 18 months ago after returning to New Zealand from a successful transport and logistics career in London.
Refrigafreighters was established in 2001, when the founder of the business partnered with another industry veteran who had been freighting chilled and frozen goods throughout New Zealand since the mid-1980s. Through steady business growth and acquisitions, Refrigafreighters has grown into a top freighting company and remains 100% New Zealand owned. They are one of the largest individual carriers of carcass meat in the North Island with 30 trucks and 15 trailers and the goal to add another 25 trucks. Their trucks are purpose built for hanging carcass transportation maximising quality control. The company was previously owned by three directors, including Bryan Tracey who now owns the other 50% of the business.
During his 7 years in London, Glenn, with another business partner, set up, owned and managed a successful removals business which specialised in premium household relocations. Of particular note, his company achieved the Royal Warrant for moving the Queen and her family from Windsor to Balmoral annually. So with a wealth of transport and logistics experience it seemed like a natural fit to buy another transport company – I mean, how different can antiques and meat carcasses be?
Well the answer is quite a lot different. It took Glenn 18 months to learn the business and feel comfortable enough to then join The Icehouse’s Owner Manager Programme. It was actually his business partner Bryan who encouraged him to join the Programme after seeing significant results from his own journey on the Programme a few years ago.
Although Glenn was aware of the Programme’s strong reputation, he wasn’t sure whether it would have a good fit for his needs. He decided to take the plunge anyway and was delighted to be successful with the $5,000 sponsorship from The Icehouse’s partner Gen-i.
After Block 1 and 2 of the Programme he wasn’t disappointed.
“I found all the content so energising. I came away with a huge list of things I wanted to get done to grow our business. It was also a great way to meet other business owners and build a bigger network especially since I haven’t lived in Auckland before.”
“It’s hugely beneficial to listen to the range of speakers – their experiences, advice and case studies have been fascinating. There’s always something to learn from others in business, it’s naïve to think you know everything and don’t need any help.”
“All in all, it already feels like therapy to my business. I would say that 50% has come from the course itself and 50% has come from the people I’ve met on the course.”
But it’s not over for Glenn yet, he still has a long way to go including Block 3, 4, 5 and then finally an implementation day where they evaluate the business plan 3 months after completing the course.
Currently the group on the 31st Owner Manager Programme are working on business profiling, business financials, organisational structure, strategy, and defining their brand and core competencies.
Glenn aims to put what he has learned on the Programme to good use in his business. A key objective is to understand how to best maintain awareness that Refrigafreighters is New Zealand’s leading specialised carcass meat carrier but also build the profile of their extensive chilled carton and pallet capability across New Zealand.
Refrigafreighters is acquiring another company this month and moving office locations so there are big plans in store for the business in the next few months. Make sure to watch this space and look out for part 2 of Glenn’s journey coming up at the start of August when he’s completed the Owner Manager Programme.
