The Hubaco Group

Joining Hubaco

I joined Hubaco in January 2018 when they needed somebody to look after the general operations.  

I came from a corporate background and took this as an interesting challenge. It wasn’t something absolutely out of my comfort zone, but it was fairly unique. You had to change hats every time you looked into a different business within the group. My first big challenge was to learn how we unify and join the forces of the company.

There was a picking force, the warehouse dispatching force, a background of purchasing, a foreground of sales, and different people in a multitude of roles.

But the biggest and most interesting challenge was joining right at the time the company decided to move into our new premises.

An ambitious new premises

We were designing and building this over the course of 2018. I was fortunate to work really closely with the owners and the MD, and I was part of seeing this literally rising from the ground.

In December 2018, we moved in. Rather than getting a company to do all this, we used our own force. I was part of everything, moving from the quite complex setup that we had in the previous building into this extraordinary new space.

Hubaco transitions to an EOT

Over the next couple of years, the existing owners decided they wanted to take a step back.

They started looking at options. That was immediately alarming because as head of operations, if it merges into something bigger, it might be partitioned into different brands, or it might be sold.

The owner decided not to do it like that, but rather to sell it to an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT). I started working on it, and that was when I started working with Jonathan. We worked through all the financials and running a company, ensuring cash generation to pay the deferred consideration whilst also sustaining the company’s future.

Dealing with Brexit chaos

Brexit was the most ridiculous situation I’ve encountered in my time working with exports and imports.

Suddenly nothing could go through the border. We ended up with pallets collected from here for delivery to France and the Netherlands, stuck in a Livingston hub for three weeks without moving.

Bigger businesses relocated warehouses into Europe or went with costly fulfilment centres and 3PL solutions. I explored 3PL, but because we are seasonal, and within the group only Terra Nova Equipment exports, it wasn’t suitable.  

We found something called Regime 42, which allows companies to clear imports into France and then re-export into intra-community supply, provided we have a registered entity in another country. That was a hugely complex process of creating, setting up, and registering a company in the Netherlands.

In the UK, it was me, Andy, and Jonathan from Gravitate. Jonathan was involved in creating the solution from the accountancy point of view, ensuring that all the companies accounted properly for invoicing, products, and turnover.

Currently we supply about 20 European countries. The Netherlands was chosen because the law organisation is quite like the UK and most people speak English, which made setup easier.

Double duty problems, and solutions

Goods imported to the UK already had 12% duty paid. Exporting again into France meant paying another 12% duty because Terra Nova BV was the importer of record.

To avoid losing money, I set up a private bonded warehouse here in the UK. Goods are imported into that warehouse, which is not UK customs territory. Duty is only paid when goods are imported into the UK or re-exported elsewhere.

We have annual audits, and our most recent one had a 100% success rate, which was a great achievement.

Leading on innovation and green technology (and setting world records)

Terra Nova produces expedition-grade tents, including those used in Antarctica for penguin counting.

We’ve had Guinness World Records for the world’s lightest tents, using UHMWPE (Ultra High Molecular Weight Poly Ethylene) fabric.

We were one of the first to apply that fabric back in 2007. Terra Nova has always had the edge in technical excellence. Products are increasingly eco-friendly. For example, Triplex is a triple ripstop, solution-dyed, recycled material we designed ourselves. It’s made from post-consumer plastic bottles, coloured at polymer stage to remove dyeing processes. This saves water energy.

During COVID, while much of the team was furloughed, I worked on a carbon walking pole. It’s 66.6% carbon, super light and super strong. It uses 3K carbon with a woven pattern, unlike many poles that just use sheeting wrapped and lacquered. That’s something I’m proud of.

Hubaco is an important and well-loved client of Gravitate, working closely with Director and Outsourced FD Jonathan Carr.

About Jonathan