After close to 150 years in the industry, shipbroker Simpson Spence Young is changing its name to SSY. But the changes do not stop there.
The global shipbroking firm — originally known as Simpson Spence & Young — which launched a new brand identity on Tuesday, is gearing up to go on the road and promote its first-ever formal trainee scheme, which will kick off next year.
The first class of eight to 10 trainees will be welcomed at SSY’s London office next September, following interviews in February.
The immediate task is to promote the scheme at Bayes Business School in London, the University of Southampton and the University of Plymouth, alma mater of SSY managing partner Stanko Jekov.
Jekov told TradeWinds: “It will be on the key desks — so it will be on dry, on tankers, on S&P [sale and purchase], on research.”
The initial London intake will help the firm tweak and perfect the programme so that further trainee schemes can be rolled out at SSY’s other global offices, probably starting with Singapore.
The firm wants trainees to go on to be experts in their field, so rather than rotating between desks, each department will hire its trainees and develop them as specialists.
The end game is to keep them with SSY for as long as they want to stay, hopefully for a long time. Jekov himself is an SSY lifer, having started as a trainee there in 2002.
Attracting a more diverse pool of talent is another aim of the scheme.
“For sure, we aim to bring more women into this business,” Jekov said.
“The only issue is that no matter how much we want more women to join this business, there’s not that many apply. That’s what the issue is. What this [trainee scheme] is about is to make it an attractive thing.”
Women already make up the majority of staff on the handysize and supramax desk in Singapore, he added.
Jekov has been in the top job since 1 January and has not wasted any time in growing the firm through acquisitions, which have allowed it to branch out into new areas. This looks set to continue.
“We entered offshore — we acquired two companies and now we’re looking to probably bolster that department more,” he said.
“Would we acquire more companies? I don’t know. If the right opportunity arose, maybe. But I think the focus now is more on adding experienced brokers to add more diversity to the team. So we’re not finished with offshore at all.”
There are also hints that SSY has not necessarily finished branching out into new sectors either.
“We’re always looking at new markets. For us as a company, we’d like to diversify even further,” Jekov said. “We’re not in containers, we’re not in LPG.”
SSY last month launched its European Union Emissions Trading System consultancy service, in partnership with CF Partners. Jekov attributes SSY’s ability to move quickly and create or seize opportunities to its independent structure — ownership is split among its 27 partners.
“I think being independent gives you manoeuvrability, it gives you the option to make quick decisions.”
SSY’s head count has grown by about 150 over the past two years and now numbers around 500 people across the world.
Crystal clear
These new hires have included well-known names such as Dr Roar Adland, who joined as global head of research, and Jarl Magnus Berge as global head of finance.
Jekov believes SSY’s ability to attract new talent is linked closely to the story the company can tell about itself — again, the rebrand and the reiteration of its values is about more than just nice colours and a new font.
When prospective job applicants come to the SSY website to find out more, he thinks it is important that what the firm stands for is crystal clear.
“I think part of it is the story you sell — and doing it, not just saying it. I think we have been doing that and I can see that other brokers are interested to talk to us and to join us because people see that we are doing some right things,” he said.
SSY has adopted Mercy Ships as its official partner and has plans for regular fundraising events at its offices around the world.
