Shipbroker Richard Fulford-Smith will step away from his hands-on leadership position at Affinity (Shipping) at the end of the year and move into the role of chairman of the board with a new chief executive stepping in to head the brokerage.
Managing partner Fulford-Smith said there is a need to manage the succession in limited-liability partnership Affinity — the shipbroking business he set up in 2015.
Under his plan, Affinity head of clean petroleum products (CPP) Daniel Hockey will become the company’s first CEO.
Fulford-Smith describes Hockey as an “exceptional head of CPP who understands the business backwards, forwards and sideways”, “a proper team player” and “a very good bloke”.
Long-standing chief financial officer Chris Chasty, who has been with Fulford-Smith since Affinity was set up, will also retire at some point in 2025, handing his role on to deputy CFO Michelle Hoban.
Shipbroking legend Fulford-Smith — who famously acquired the name “the shouting man” from South Korean shipbuilders due to his sometimes loud and outspoken manner — said for now: “I’m not going anywhere.
“I’m changing my title away,” he explained, adding that he will “hang around” until Hockey is up-to-speed as CEO.
In his new role as chairman, Fulford-Smith plans to home in on helping Affinity build its business, hinting that the company is engaged with some “fairly big projects”, which he will continue working on.
He wants to add to Affinity’s product range by enhancing its gas business. This will include a move into LPG, supported by new hires, as well as an expansion into LNG, with a focus on downstream LNG bunkering.
The long-standing broker is also keen to work with Affinity’s shipholding business, which is largely focused on Tor Olav Troim’s 2020 Bulkers, Himalaya Shipping and Andes Shipping, along with the broker’s own emissions platform.
Fulford-Smith stressed that Affinity invests in new next-generation companies, which he said have a greater level of transparency.
The Affinity chief also wants to grow the business outside its UK base and revealed that he is going to sign off a new office in Shanghai shortly.
Fulford-Smith — or “Fulford” as he is more usually known — said he anticipates eventually reducing the number of days he works down to a three-day week before retiring in several years.
He does not plan to take any cash out of the business aside from the working capital he invested, for which he charges a small percentage fee.
Fulford-Smith, who previously headed shipbroker Clarksons and then joined forces with then-Norwegian shop RS Platou, before founding his own brokerage, said he wants Affinity to remain a private company.
He rubbished talk circulating in some circles that he had been considering an IPO for Affinity, although he admitted asking questions with financiers in connection with possible merger and acquisition moves.
‘Ruthlessly fair’
The founding partner said Affinity has created a very transparent business where brokers function almost as self-employed individuals within their own sector silos, generating their own revenue.
Fulford-Smith said his job has been to make sure monies are distributed fairly between the different business areas.
“I think I have been ruthlessly fair,” he said. Speaking about those he has worked with, he added: “They may not like everything I say and do, but they do know I’m fair.”
Fulford-Smith is concerned about what he sees as a level of “greed” in shipbroking.
He said there are big bonuses available to people who do a good job in the business but not to those who employ many people who do not.
He also wants shipbroking to become a more regulated business.
These days the often-outspoken broker is eager to unleash his feelings about sanctions-breaking in shipbroking and the wider maritime community.
“The most profitable business to do at the moment is illegal business,” Fulford-Smith said, adding that he has “fallen out of love with the part of our business turning a blind eye to what is an obvious and extremely serious challenge to world peace.
Ambassador
“There is no doubt that as you get older sometimes people find it more difficult to evolve,” he said. “I have found it quite easy because I love change, and I love promoting change.”
He highlighted several industry firsts for Affinity, including backing LNG as a fuel, something Fulford-Smith believes will be a pathway to the bioforms of the product.
Fulford-Smith does not believe in ammonia, hydrogen or methanol, although he said they will have their role in time and sees nuclear as a potential fuel for the second half of this century.
Looking further ahead, Fulford-Smith — who admits he loves the business — said he would like to stay interested in Affinity but only in an ambassadorial role.
He is keen to have some time to himself and to travel with wife Annie.
“It’s been great fun and I really enjoy it,” Fulford-Smith said, “but I just need to move on and I will move and I will continue to help, I hope, all the people in Affinity.”
TradeWinds has been following Fulford-Smith’s career for years. 2009 was a particularly key year for him as he re-emerged from a year’s gardening leave. Read more about how industry associates and he assessed himself then via these links:
