Murray Mullen - Mullen Group Ltd.

In this episode of the Canadian Equities podcast Murray K Mullen, Chairman, CEO and President of Mullen Group Ltd., joins Robert Cooper as they discuss trends in logistics. For the full length version of the Canadian Equities podcast connect with us at acumencapital.com/podcast.

Transcript

moderator 0:01

Welcome to Canadian Equities, a short biweekly podcast series, where we speak with top business leaders and hear their perspectives on the industries in which they operate for the full length version. Find our link in the podcast notes or connect with us at acumencapital.com I'm your host Robert Cooper today I'm joined by Mullen group, chairman, CEO, and president MurrayMullen. Mullen is a leading Canadian diversified logistics company that has transformed its business over the past 10 years from primarily a Western Canadian energy focused company into one of Canada's leading diversified logistics businesses. The company is an economic bellwether and Murray shareholder's letters are must read Murray Mullen. Thanks for joining us.

Murray Mullen 0:45

Robert Good to be here.

moderator 0:48

Tell us a little bit about Mullen and what it is you do.

Murray Mullen 0:53

Well, uh, I think as you, as you commented on, I mean, we've, you know, we're one of Canada's leading diversified companies, a logistics provider, and we're in multiple different verticals and, uh, you know, thus far we've, uh, we've stayed in Canada, invested in, uh, really. What I'd call first name, good quality entrepreneurial based companies. We acquire them and then we roll them into our network. And then what we do is we take kind of family businesses and we try and professionalize them. So our business model, when we went public in 1993 is no different today than it would have been 93. And that is quite simply, this is. Entrepreneurs build companies. And then they got to monetize. And what we do is we provide that liquidity to entrepreneurs and then we roll them into our, uh, into our organization. So we've got this, you know, this big company now we've got 35 companies in our group in what we call the Mullen group. Um, and, uh, I oversee them. And, uh, that's, that's what we've done. We acquire good entrepreneurial companies. And then we just professionalize the management team. we invest heavily in things like technology, which big companies can do smaller companies can't. Um, and, but to grow in Canada, I had to be in multiple different verticals. So you can't just stay in one. Part of the economy or in one province and be a public company. I don't see it. So what we did is we've spread our wings and, uh, as you say, we've diversified outside the old patch, which at one time was, was a fantastic business, but, uh, not so good anymore. Uh, and, uh, you know, we just pivoted and went to built into other parts of the Canadian economy primarily today, focused on the consumer. That's our. Number one objective today, which is focus on the consumer, not on the oil and gas sector and we pivoted away from it. And thankfully I did that, which has allowed us to be a pretty, pretty good size company today.

moderator 2:59

If you had to identify one or two long-term themes that you believe will impact your business over the medium to long-term.

Murray Mullen 3:08

Well, I think the first one, and this is probably true of every company, Robert, you got to invest in technology. Uh, and as I said to you that, you know, everybody uses technology, but, uh, from our business, we think the competitive advantages of being an Omar size and, and whatever is to invest in that technology that gives us a competitive advantage over an entrepreneur that has relationships and works hard. And does all those, those good things, we cannot work an entrepreneur. But with technology, uh, you have a chance to really, improve the supply chain, improve productivity and drive margin. And, uh, and by the way, uh, we're entering the digital world. We're already in it. All of us. And, uh, so I've got to stay on top of technology. That's always been the case, but it's accelerated today. You gotta be able to move your organization fast, to be able to stay with technology. If you don't, you will get run over very quickly. There's too many smart people out there that not use technology as the leverage to be able to, accelerate their business plan. And, and they will destroy companies that sit, trying to defend. Yes. So, uh, technology, uh, and then I think the other thing is how do I make sure that we are a great place for people to want to apply their skills? The rest of it, it's just the market. I don't have control of it. We have to adapt to the market, but those are the two things that I focus most on in our company. Make sure we're investing in technology. You gotta be smart about it, but you got to invest. And then number two is I want our place to be, uh, uh, an organization to be just a place where people like to come to work and apply their skills. And, uh, that's what drives me. I love doing it to be honest with you.

moderator 5:04

Murray we've reached our time. I want to thank you. murray Mullen chairman, president, and CEO of mullen group. Thanks again for spending time with us today.

Murray Mullen 5:13

My pleasure. Take care.

moderator 5:17

Note that this podcast is not making an investment recommendation on any companies discussed. We welcome your comments on today's episode or any other episode. Connect with us at Acumen Capital dot com.