Robert Hardy, former Director of P&O Ferries and EurotunnelPlus, has joined Oakland International to help create Oakland Invicta, a new company specialising in maintaining European supply chain integrity.
Robert has spent the last 5 years developing and running the Customs clearance and truckstop facility at the Port of Dover and has worked closely with the lead Government Agencies involved with international trade, including Border Force, DEFRA, Environment Agency and FSA.
Having identified elements that could be improved upon, Robert felt it was time to offer the market something different. Dean Attwell, Chief Executive and Co-Founder of Oakland International agreed. Oakland, based in Redditch, are specialists in dealing with import loads contaminated by stowaway incursion and their award winning Distress Load Management Service is seen by many as the industry benchmark.
Together they have created Oakland Invicta, a 24 hour border checkpoint in Kent. This amnesty service is offered on a commercial basis and is already attracting keen interest from major brands looking to protect the integrity of their inbound supply chain.
“Border Force can’t check every vehicle. The majority go unchecked,” explains Robert Hardy, Operations Director of Oakland Invicta. “It takes us just 15 minutes to check the cargo and many clients are considering making it a mandatory process.”
Robert added; “I am delighted to have joined Oakland, one of the warmest and most progressive companies I have come across. I am confident that our partnership will bring the solution and the problem closer together so that our clients can expect import goods to arrive in the same condition they were despatched without risk or exposure.”