For the last 86 years, AV Dawson has gone from one person selling coal on the streets of Middlesbrough to an international, multimodal logistics provider and operator of Port of Middlesbrough.
Founded by Arthur Vernon Dawson, grandfather of the current chairman, Gary Dawson, in 1938, Arthur Vernon began the business with £50 and a horse and cart.
It’s come a long way since the days of selling coal. The firm is now one of the largest family businesses in the region, operating a port of over 100 acres and employing around 200 members of staff.
It hasn’t always been plain sailing for the port operators. The business has had to diversify and adapt to new changes to become the recognised firm it is today.
As of October 2023, the firm transitioned to a group structure, with AV Dawson Limited becoming the parent of four operational subsidiary businesses –AV Dawson Transport, Cockfield Knight & Co, Port of Middlesbrough and AVD Industrial & Port Services.
As the parent company, AV Dawson owns the port estate and deals with an extensive property portfolio of 35 tenants across the site.
AV Dawson group managing director Charlie Nettle said:
“We had been planning for the company to restructure for several years before it became a reality.
“A lot of hard work went into forming the group structure, from establishing a set of values which would be applicable across the group, to creating new businesses and rebranding our Middlesbrough site. We wanted to create a solid foundation before we began the restructure.
"The key driver for introducing the group structure at this stage is to support succession, with our owner and now chairman, Gary Dawson, moving to more of a governance role. The new structure will enable each of the subsidiary companies to have more autonomy to invest and develop whilst also creating a level of security for the wider business."
Charlie continued:
“Another major reason we decided to create a group structure was to manage risk. Over the years, the whole business has faced some challenging times.
“The group structure provides a greater degree of protection as it enables us to operate more safely from a financial perspective. Potential risks that a subsidiary may want to take can be limited to that individual subsidiary business as opposed to risking the whole company. Whilst the business is certainly not intending to suddenly adopt a high-risk business strategy, this just provides some added protection for the future.”
The team at AV Dawson thought carefully about risk when setting up the new structure. This resulted in the project being phased over a five-year period.
AVD Industrial & Port Services was the first subsidiary business to be established in 2019. This business provides logistics teams to work on customers’ sites in the region, to support them with any large projects they’ve got going on. This business was born out of work with a valued customer, and the family firm felt a need for it with the customers they operate with and particularly with the growth of inward investment and opportunities in Teesside.
In 2021, Cockfield Knight Limited became the next subsidiary to join the AV Dawson Group.
The firm provides ship agency services to any vessel that arrives at Port of Middlesbrough. From port agency services to vessel chartering, the agency has extensive experience working in a number of markets with a plethora of clients.
In 2022, AV Dawson Transport became the next business to enter the group structure. Being the largest in the group in terms of turnover and staff, the transport arm of the group is an imperative part of the group structure and is that link that connects each part of the operation to provide customers with the efficiencies of an integrated multimodal service.
2023 saw the launch of the final subsidiary of the group, Port of Middlesbrough. This subsidiary is responsible for all logistics operations at the port.
Before this, the site was rebranded as Port of Middlesbrough in 2020 to better market the facility and its capabilities to a global audience. Now, it has also become a limited company in its own right.
Charlie continued:
“We needed to rebrand as Port of Middlesbrough to enable potential customers to really understand what we do. Branding ourselves as a port was a simple but effective way to do this. Making reference to Middlesbrough in our brand geographically locates us and helps raise the profile of the area.
“The positioning of the business is absolutely crucial; it allows us to seek out new opportunities, creates clarity on what we can offer our customers, and enables each subsidiary to market itself better.
“The formation of the AV Dawson Group has allowed us to better market ourselves in a competitive global marketplace and better promote what we do to help potential customers.
The group structure has brought added benefits, such as more robust relationships with customers and colleagues.
“Even though the subsidiary businesses are technically separate, we are still very much operating as one company internally, utilising the strength of the group. Our purpose and strong company values continue to unify us and bring the teams together.
“Having a defined common purpose, which we refer to as our Just Cause, allows us to synergise and work better and more collaboratively; it’s brought us more together as a business.
“Our Just Cause is about honouring the past, protecting what we have today and inspiring current and future generations to build a lasting legacy.
“The group structure hasn’t happened overnight. A lot of hard work and some challenges have happened over the last 86 years, but looking forward and preparing for the future has been a critical driver for us in this restructuring project.
“We can’t just focus on today, we’ve got to be thinking about the next generation of colleagues who will drive forward the business for the next 86 years.”
Learn more here: www.avdawsongroup.com.