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Freight Afloat Consultants is run by Tom Chaplin and is a division of Riparian Owner Service Ltd, a company founded by the Chaplin family, which has just celebrated its centenary. In 1950, the company played a seminal role in the introduction of freight on to the Kennet and Avon Canal, saving it from closure. Since then it has amassed wide-ranging experience relating to wharves and water carriage. The consultancy is based on generations of waterway expertise.
Over the years, the company has changed its focus from water-borne bank-protection schemes to freight but it is still very much a family concern. Tom’s wife is also a waterways enthusiast and works as his personal assistant. His daughter acts as a consultant. The two have PhDs in English literature and economics respectively.
Freight Afloat Consultants will undertake freight-related reports, and if you would find it helpful, they are happy to present them to your targeted audience. Much of the expertise relating to commercial carriage has been lost, and the company’s extensive knowledge of boats, waterways and their history is an invaluable resource.
Upgrading to water-borne freight is a decision you will never regret but you will have a lot of decisions to make. What type of boat will most fit your needs? Do you opt for a motorised barge to push or pull? Would it be best to use pans, hoppers, dumb barges, joeys, wide boats or narrow boats? Freight Afloat Consultants have the answer.
Freight Afloat Consultants can advise and procure income from a wide range of sources:
- FFG grants
- SRB grants
- transport grants
- social inclusion projects
- education programmes
- sponsorship
- communities
- 106 agreements
Freight Afloat Consultants will identify the problems and advise on a range of wider issues such as
- sustainability targets
- environmental benefits and strategies
- planning gain
- PR value
- corporate social responsibility
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Tom Chaplin has a wide knowledge of the inland waterways network and has worked on assignments as geographically diverse as Fort Augustus on the Caledonian Canal in the Highlands of Scotland and Guildford in Surrey.
During a career which has seen first the demise of commercial traffic on the waterways and then its renaissance, Tom Chaplin has been at the forefront of the green freight revolution. Tom is passionate about water freight and while working for British Waterways, was responsible for its re-introduction on London’s canals. Whilst extolling the merits of freight by water, he has project-managed and helped to initiate freight studies and advised on planning issues. His innovative approach has secured funding for a number of projects.
Tom Chaplin is well known as an author of three books about commercial carrying on the narrow canals and is a regular contributor to Waterways World. He is also a long standing member of the Parliamentary Waterways Group, Chairman of the Waterways Craft Guild, a member of various Freight Quality Partnerships and London Sustainable Distribution Partnership. This means that he has all the contacts needed to bring your project to fruition.
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