Transport owner and operator Blake Noble has launched a new advisory and execution offering specifically for the transport sector, Delivery.

Noble, who purchased Transcon Warkworth in 2015, also became a director of Halls Group in 2022.

Now looking for the next step, Noble landed on the concept of Delivery, a means of getting involved with existing transport operators looking for some extra input and bandwidth to get things done.

“I decided buying another business along the lines of what I’d been through with Transcon was going to feel a little like Groundhog Day, and I decided that actually there might be more value to add by working with a few businesses at a time and leveraging the areas that I’ve got the most to offer – which is around improving system processes, technology, financial reporting and metrics, customer interaction and engagement, and team culture, while retaining skin in the game through my ongoing ownership of Transcon,” Noble says.

Noble says Delivery is ideal for a range of transport operators who may be wanting to grow their operations, reduce their reliance in the day-to-day operations of a business, or those wanting to commence work on a succession plan of some form.

“I think for a lot of people it is very difficult for them to get out of the business, whether that’s just stepping away to focus on other things or to exit it, because they’re such a critical part of the business,” he says.

“It can also be difficult to get out on a day-to-day basis because they’re such an integral part of the workings of the business.

“This seems to be particularly prevalent in transport, where you’ve got an owner that may still be driving the trucks or dispatching – and sometimes there’s a need for that. But some of these businesses, they’re not small operations, and I genuinely believe in the scope and ability to transform these operations with a little external perspective, a dose of technology, and the assistance of someone to help execute the plan.

“I’m there to take a snapshot of the current state of plan, help develop a plan that enables people to have some flexibility in how the business works for them, whatever shape that may take, rather than them being bound to it.”

Noble says his experience with Transcon saw him acquire a business with great bones, excellent regional focus, some very long-standing customer relationships, and a legacy on which to build and develop.

But he also found a business in need of some new energy, a technology overhaul, and a brand in need of a reboot.

“It needed a general refocusing of the trajectory the business would take over the next 45 years,” he says.

“Realising that many operators aren’t comfortable with forgoing any of their equity position, I see this as a way of having a ‘virtual business partner’ who’s there to work alongside them in a similar capacity as that of another shareholder or director, but with some agreed performance milestones or outcomes put in place to evolve the business,” he says.

“So that might be helping with customer engagement, or the implementation of new technology or systems.  It’s more than just throwing a report at them and saying ‘good luck’.

“What I’m wanting to do is actively engage with them and actually help them get the job done across the short to medium-term.”

Find out more about Delivery at www.getdelivery.nz