Unitor and BP Marine to Dissolve The Marine Alliance

Unitor ASA and BP Marine, who co-founded The Marine Alliance B.V. joint venture three years ago, have now decided to dissolve this partnership and focus individually on their respective customers’ requirements. The transition will commence early October and will be completed by 1 January 2004. After that date, Unitor and BP Marine will each provide their own customer services. Changing business needs The Marine Alliance was established to deliver improved customer services (order processing, sales support, technical support and credit management services) to its founders. Since its formation, the organisation has evolved to reflect changing business needs, delivering improvements in service levels and customer satisfaction. However, both partners now believe that the next stage in this process of continuous improvement can be delivered most effectively within their individual organisations. Unitor: A more flexible supplier who will ensure continuity and improved service levels Unitor aims to continually update its offer with innovative products, as well as better service and support. An extensive restructuring program has been carried out to put key resources closer to the markets to increase internal efficiency and improve the company’s competitive position. This change allows Unitor to gain unhindered complete control over the entire order process and facilitates the creation of a flexible, customer-orientated organisation with improved service levels. Unitor’s President and CEO, Jarle Roth emphasises that better control of all elements in the order flow is now central to Unitor’s strategy: “This will make it possible for us to maintain first class service and adding more flexibility in how we deal with individual customer needs.” BP Marine: Focusing on target customer groups Soon after the Marine Alliance was formed, BP acquired the global lubricant and chemical marketing company – Burmah Castrol. The marine lubricants businesses of Burmah Castrol and BP were combined to create a single organisation focused globally on the needs of its customers. Whilst the BP Marine and Castrol Marine businesses supply different customer groups, their shared goal is to lead the market in service excellence and reliability of supply. The change announced today will move BP Marine and Castrol Marine a step closer to realising this vision.