In Conversation
Pictured by K9 Fuels new IFC Inflow skid with tanks from Neil Vessey (Storage Tanks) are Craig Belshaw,
depot manager (r) and Anika Shingdia (l) who assists with general administration
Hands-on in the fuel business
WITH KEN SHINGDIA’S ROUTE INTO FUEL OIL DISTRIBUTION BEING A LITTLE DIFFERENT THAN THE NORM, FUEL OIL NEWS
EDITOR JANE RAPHAEL WAS VERY MUCH LOOKING FORWARD TO MEETING KEN AND HIS WIFE ANN AT THE COMPANY’S NEW
DEPOT IN GAINSBOROUGH
A production engineer by profession, Ken has a strong business
background in the manufacturing of primary plastic and corrugated
packaging, having been based in Lincoln since the 1980s, whilst Ann,
who is a linguist, was the general manager of one of Ken’s businesses,
with the two having been a team for 21 years.
In 2009, after handing over the previous businesses to his sons, Ken
and Ann acquired K9 Fuels which was a running business.
“Whilst from a business perspective, we were both au fait with
Lincolnshire and the surrounding areas, the oil world was far less familiar,
and our journey has certainly been an interesting one….
“Having been in the pharmaceutical arena we were well-versed in
the adherence to rules & regulations but found oil’s regulations had
further challenges. In previous roles our margins were well over 50%;
with oil’s narrow margins we needed to learn and very fast!”
Initially moving to a rented dry depot, K9 Fuels had inherited just
one driver and two old tankers, one even had a ‘jump hose’ to change
pots!
Being hands on and needing to understand how the industry
operated at the coal face, Ken qualified as an HGV driver and passed his
12 Fuel Oil News | January 2019
ADR within the first few months.
“It was a challenge but one that was really necessary to ensure
that I could step in as and when required; at the end of the day we did
not want to let any customers down,” said Ken who at one time was
chauffeur-driven to work.
With the fleet having increased to three tankers, Ken and Ann
needed to take the obvious step of owning their own premises with
a storage facility. After a couple of false starts, a greenfield site was
eventually found in Gainsborough. Planning and construction took two
years to complete with the company finally moving in May 2017.
“Our tankers were driving up to the Humber refineries every day to
collect fuel which was not operationally efficient. Additionally, with the
bulk of our business then being in kerosene, we needed to expand into
other sectors,” explained Ken.
Adding further commercial and agricultural business since, K9’s
volume has more than trebled. The business is now more evenly split
with some third-party work also undertaken.
In need of information and support which they could rely on, K9
Fuels is a member of the Federation of Petroleum Suppliers (FPS). Ken