Company History

The company was founded by Richard Clarke (pictured left) and Malcolm Thompson (pictured right), two senior ANL executives, in April 1981, and was initially based in a small office on Collins Street in Melbourne.

Their imprint on the company profile remains today.

Malcolm's industry experience was shore based with the Furness Withy Group and subsequently in a number of Asian trade management roles in ANL, while Richard was a master mariner with the British and Commonwealth Shipping Company, giving him wide ranging experience in vessel operations and cargo handling before holding a number of trade-based positions with ANL.

This critical blend of commercial and operational skills and experience has been a hallmark of the company's services and resources ever since

Richard was at the Tokyo end of ANL’s Eastern Searoad Service and Malcolm in the Melbourne office when their relationship began. Their work together on a project that made huge savings in boxes and down time was instrumental in starting their business.

ANL had made such a success of carrying containers of car parts for Toyota to Australia, that it found itself in a position where all the ships were fully loaded with containers of cheap car parts. That was fine, but there was obvious wastage in returning the empty boxes from Webb Dock to Japan.

“We had all the Toyota business and car parts, which are not exactly good freight, so when the vessel the Australian Escort came along in 1975, Malcolm and I had the idea that we would de-containerise that trade,” Richard said.

Their solution: CKDs (completely knocked down parts) were brought from the Nagoya factory on trucks that were lashed down in the bow of the ship. About 2,000 containers were withdrawn from the system, with big savings in money and downtime.

Richard and Malcolm were later to leave ANL to form their consultancy, which has evolved into one of the most prominent operations of its type in the nation, with offices in Melbourne and Sydney.

Malcolm retired in 2002 and Richard followed suit in 2005, though he still contributes his knowledge to current projects when asked.

Over two decades, they had carefully grown the company, bringing in a range of highly qualified personnel to ensure that their legacy, which is considerable, will continue for many years.

Sydney: +61 2 9929 9468 Melbourne: +61 3 9646 3155 Email: exec@thompsonclarke.com.au