Merrick Rayner set on one last Posidonia before hanging up hat

Posted date:

03.06.16

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When Merrick Rayner started his career as a shipbroking trainee at Clarksons in 1974, the world was a very different place. Mobile phones were decades away, computers were not a feature of the desktop and messages were sent by telex.

Communications have since been revolutionised but, as Rayner heads into retirement from shipbroking after next week’s Posidonia, he leaves an industry which, in many ways, he says, is no different from when he started.

“What is fairly amazing is that while shipbroking has become more sophisticated in terms of the research and statistical requirements that clients need, it still comes down to personal relationships with the client,” he told TradeWinds over lunch.

While there has been significant consolidation of London shipbroking outfits, the city has retained its dominant position, despite, for example, the huge growth in shipbroking activity in Singapore.

“The expertise in London still offers the most comprehensive and professional shipbroking service in the world, otherwise people would not continue to use it,” he said.

Rayner believes that this, combined with trust and an advantageous time zone, bodes well for London retaining this position going forward.

However, he does have some concerns relating to the government crackdown on non-domiciles, which has had a particular impact on the London-Greek shipowning community.

“That sort of uncertainty and change is not good in my view as they have been a foundation of the London shipbroking community for many years,” he said.

Rayner has enjoyed a colourful and successful career since starting as a tanker broker at Clarksons. He was thrust into the sale-and-purchase (S&P) sector with the split off from Clarksons S&P to form Braemar and joined EA Gibson in that capacity in 2003 — where he is a director — before going on to restructure the company’s period and project desk.

Nigel Richardson, managing director of Gibson Shipbrokers, says the success of this desk, which goes from strength to strength, is a terrific legacy by Rayner, who he describes as a shipbroking legend.

Despite the consolidation that has taken place in shipbroking, Rayner does not subscribe to the theory that size is the only key to success.

“There are a number of other very successful smaller shipbroking companies that are focused on employing the best people and being at the top of their game in their particular area of expertise and that is what we strive for at Gibson,” he said. “Gibson has an excellent reputation in the market and the objective is simple, which is to maintain this position and grow as opportunities present themselves.”

Rayner has worked alongside industry legends such as Tony Klima and Eddie Coulson on the tanker desk at Clarksons. His breakthrough S&P deal was a tanker purchase for Harry Rutten’s Transpetrol and he has been involved in a number of orders and transactions over the years for clients of Neda Maritime, which he says have been great supporters.

For brokers starting out in the business today, Rayner says they should “use the energy and enthusiasm of their youth and to remain focused”.

“Broking requires you to be persistent,” he said. “You get knocked down and you have to learn to bounce back.

“It is also important to have strong self-motivation and drive, and to put in the hard graft off the ball so you know your market inside out.”

Rayner says he will miss the adrenaline rush of doing deals and will have to find a new outlet for his sales skills in retirement. However, he will not be short of activities to fill his time, with sailing and the improvement of his golf swing to be packed in alongside helping organise the Centenary celebrations at his old school, Pangbourne College, and his involvement with Royal Museums Greenwich and The Worshipful Company of Shipwrights.

“What makes me tick? It’s people,” he said. “I enjoy people and the social aspect is very much what I have enjoyed about the business.”

He says it is difficult to answer precisely how he feels about retiring until he has stepped back.

“I feel incredibly lucky to have had 29 years at Clarksons, and the last very happy 13 years at Gibson,” he said.

“Gibson has a fantastic core ethos of teamwork, which is a huge strength of the company. After 42 years of being a competitive broker, you know instinctively when it’s time to step down.

“It is a fantastic and rewarding international business in which I have the good fortune to work and meet with some incredibly talented and interesting people.”

http://www.tradewindsnews.com/weekly/761767/merrick-rayner-set-on-one-last-posidonia-before-hanging-up-hat