IN T E RV I E W It was such a thrill to come into a company that was losing money and to leave it very profitable and plenty of cocktail parties, the unbearable traffic, regular downpours and general chaos of the city made it difficult to raise a young family. After a plea from his wife, Georgia, to leave the country, Bell had a conversation with Eric Lim and moved to Malaysia as managing director and shareholder of a joint venture between K C Dat and the Transpo companies in Thailand. Fronting this start-up company - Transpo Movers - was a fantastic challenge, says Bell. Kuala Lumpur was really booming. The Twin Towers were going up and I was doing all the work for them, bringing people in and out. It really was a wonderful time and a great success. The key to doing well, says Bell, is to keep business straightforward and genuine. There are some companies that just dont do things right, he says. As long as you are doing things right, give honest quotes and do an honest days work, the work will follow. This is particularly pertinent with todays unpredictable supply chain, he adds. Be upfront. Do what you can do and if you miss a boat, or something doesnt fit into a container, youve got to tell the client. While he enjoyed rising to every challenge that a new country brought, Bells heart remained in Singapore, and every two or three years K C Dat submitted another application for him to return to work in the country. I was killing time until I could get back there, he jokes, but having a good time waiting. Eventually, after years of government rejections, he had the call from Lim telling him he had been accepted. He returned to Singapore and to K C Dat, where he stayed for the next 15 years. Having made the decision several years before, and then putting off the move, Bell and his wife eventually returned to the UK to be closer to her family. Leaving was a difficult decision, says Bell, but one was made easier by a discussion with Lim. I had a conversation with Eric and told him, Im sorry, but this was always going to happen. He asked me to list exactly what the role of chairman is - looking after Asian Tigers marketing, sales, dealing with agent relationships and generally being a point-of-contact person for all. If you want to talk to someone, Im the guy to talk to first and Ill put you in touch with the right person. I do a lot of negotiating and am a one-stop-shop really. GORDON BELL ON JOINING THE FIDI BOARD Bell was inaugurated as a FIDI Board member at the FIDI Conference in Cannes. Although a popular choice, he did have doubts about taking on the role. I resisted it at first, he says. If you look at people Ive grown up with Peter Kuoni; Peter Robinson; Jim McCluskey; Jorge Laporta; Jim Thompson; Eric Lim; Al Mithal; Cees Zeevenhooven, Tom Ansley, Orphee Moschopoulos, Ernst Joerg these are the greats; people I still look up to. I think I was a bit intimidated at being part of a board where I thought, Could I come even close to doing what they did for the Association?. There were other people who I so admired who supported me along my career: Jean Jacques Borgstedt, Ian 42 FF306 June-August 22 pp40-43 Interview.indd 42 Wilson, Bill Reinsch, Peter Schaefers and John Scott. However, a positive learning experience as an OMNI board member for nine years has stood him in good stead, and thanks to the advice of Steve Jordan of The Mover magazine he also overcame a fear of public speaking. Im not a natural and Steve gave me a little more confidence on that part, he says. FIDI is a very special club. Anywhere around the world, if you are a FIDI member you are welcomed with open arms. And FIDI keeps challenging you to be better, with new and tougher criteria so you can remain in the club. The security of having FASI behind you is also of great importance and, of course, the learning that FIDI offers. Bell says he would love to be involved in organising the FIDI conferences, to choose fun and exciting destinations from the many places he knows intimately. Id love to get my hands on the conferences, to choose places and promote them, and to have a really fun and learning experience, he says. I was blown away by how well they did this year how well organised everything was. I still cant believe Im actually on the FIDI Board. Im absolutely thrilled to be a part of this and I never imagined this would happen in my career. I thank Rob Chipman for pushing me ever so slightly. And its also thanks to the people who voted for me and the support of the moving family, as well as my own shareholders. WW W. F I D I FOC U S . OR G 07/06/2022 09:41