The Heavy Lift Group (THLG)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article or section is written like an advertisement. Please help rewrite this article from a neutral point of view. Mark blatant advertising which would require a fundamental rewrite in order to become encyclopedic for speedy deletion, using {{db-spam}}. (June 2008) |
The Heavy Lift Group (THLG) is a group of specialist heavy transport companies which combine to offer the best expertise and service according to customer needs.
The group was formed in 1987 in anticipation of the single European market, and was named originally The European Heavy Lift Group (EHLG). The EHLG was originally Europe based, but expanded to consist of carefully selected members from around the world. Members specialised in heavy lift transport, outsize cargo, crane operations, machinery erection and dismantling, and large scale project forwarding. Members were split evenly between those who operate vehicles and vessels by land, sea or air and those in the service industries of project management and forwarding. In all cases, new applicants were expected to have played a major role in a number of large projects before being considered.
One of the main features of EHLG membership was the assignment and protection of key territories, so that a particular EHLG member would be the only provider of a certain type of service in a specific geographic region.
Contents |
[edit] Activities
The group operates mainly as a social club for business owners, with the objective of providing social networking opportunities for heavy lift operators. It meets two weekends a year in pleasant hotels at different city locations, and holds a Saturday 1-day conference of which approximately 4 hours are devoted to business matters. Wives and partners are invited to the weekend, and pleasant sightseeing activities are organised as well as a banquet dinner on the Saturday evening. Typically between 30% and 70% of members attend each conference.
Between conferences members are encouraged to post business opportunities to other members via THLG website. However the average number of business opportunities posted between all members in the THLG forums over the last 5 years was around 3 enquiries per annum, although members are still free to contact each other directly without using the facilities provided. Members are also not bound to deal only with other members, as they can exercise the choice to partner with any company outside of the group at anytime.
[edit] Growth & Decline
During the period from 1997-2002 EHLG experienced rapid growth, and saw membership more than double from 15 members to 37 members. This growth was primarily due to the adoption of the internet by international business users, as predicted by EHLG co-founder and President Douglas Hird who had the foresight to engage world-class internet development and promotion company Webmastermedia in advance of the internet boom.
Unfortunately however, many of the newer EHLG members failed to identify commercial benefit from EHLG membership, and subsequently left the group.
Since September 2003 the group has operated without any paid administration or management personnel, choosing to self-administer the group by the voluntary contributions of members, who run their own companies on a day-to-day basis. Membership fees (currently approximately EUR 40,000) go mainly to fund website development.
[edit] Conversion to The Heavy Lift Group (THLG)
On May 22nd 2004 EHLG took the decision to become a Dutch organisation , calling itself The Heavy Lift Group (THLG)
One of the key differences in the new constitution was that THLG no longer offered protected territories, and applications were now open to existing competitors of any current member. Whereas under old EHLG rules existing providers were able to block infringing applications at an early stage, THLG would remove such barriers to entry. Also THLG had the power to obligate members financially by entering into agreements on their behalf (but it has yet to do so).
Membership has since stabilised at around 20 members, but the Netherlands-based association still struggles to build its member base back to its former numbers. Also alternate resources like The Heavy Lift Directory make it difficult for THLG to attract new members.
