Purpose and strategy
Our purpose ‘We move for all to grow’ expresses our role
Our success as a company was founded on pioneering new transport and logistics routes throughout Scandinavia and beyond.
As a result, individuals, businesses, communities and nations have grown and prospered.
Our role as a supplier of transport and logistics is becoming increasingly important as we strive to develop sustainable societies for generations to come in an unpredictable and complex world.
We move for all to grow
We move freight and passengers reliably and efficiently
We care about the safety of our passengers and employees, and about minimising our environmental footprint
Our ambition
"In a world facing complexity, instability and the scarcity of resources, the need to find sustainable ways to operate our business is pivotal to our continued success. Our ambition is to move towards greener and more digitised operations, in our pursuit to enable all to grow. As an integral part of this sustainable growth, we care for and develop our people and support them in their daily tasks. Standing together, thousands of colleagues, with passion, skills and commitment, we can succeed and continue to grow and prosper sustainably."
— Torben Carlsen, President and CEO
DFDS Strategy
Our strategy sets the direction for how we grow DFDS and at the same time reduce our impact on the environment. It has a people and customer-driven focus and works to improve solutions across business areas ensuring DFDS stays competitive.
It enables us to deliver on our ambition to move for all to grow towards a greener and more digitised operation.
A. Grow solutions for selected industries
Automotive
Activities today cover most parts of the automotive supply chain. The ambition is to expand the offering to the industry, also the geographical scope to particularly the UK and continental Europe.
Cold Chain
Our services to UK producers of seafood and frozen goods are comprehensive, including both warehousing, distribution centres and transport. The ambition is to expand the offering to the industry, also the geographical scope to particularly Scandinavia and continental Europe.
B. Digitise services to accelerate growth
Easy access for customers
We want customers to work with us in flawless and efficient digital booking and post-booking systems. This includes a logistics platform, DFDS Direct, that integrates quoting, booking and tracking capabilities
Innovative solutions
We aim to improve decision-making through data and optimise operations through automation. The latter includes priority discharge from ferries and automated logistics quotations.
Cost-efficiency of sales
We aim to transition smaller customers from manual processing to more efficient digital offerings. This will allow us to increase focus on customers requiring more complex solutions.
C. Develop and expand our ferry and logistics networks
Mediterranean business plan fulfilment
The Mediterranean business unit was established by the acquisition of UN RoRo in June 2018. Besides further development of the customer offering and operations, our key goal is to raise ROIC to our return ambition.
Ferry newbuilding benefits
We have invested in six new megaferries and two new combined freight and passenger ferries for the Baltics. This will provide us with a lot more capacity. The new ferries will help our customers grow their business and increase our operational efficiency in the route networks in northern Europe and the Mediterranean.
Continuous improvement projects and acquisitions
Targeted continuous improvement projects remain an important tool for improving customer offerings and efficiency. Our growth strategy includes acquisitions and partnerships to expand the scope of our customer offerings and achieve scale advantages.
D. Create more value for passengers
Adapt onboard experience
On passenger routes Oslo-Copenhagen and Newcastle-Amsterdam, we have adapted services in light of Covid-19 restrictions. We focus on offering transport and less on the leisure/travel experience. Onboard concepts scaled down.
Integration of freight/passenger routes
On the English Channel and in the Baltics, we combine freight with passenger services. As freight volumes are stable, the number of sailings is maintained but onboard passenger facilities are scaled down.
Travel market development
The global travel market is on pause due to Covid-19. We are well prepared to scale operations up again and resume ferry travel with large numbers of passengers. Travel and onboard concepts will be adapted to market developments.
E. Drive ESG Agenda
Climate Action Plan
We will improve our operations to reduce relative emissions by 45% by 2030. We will be climate neutral by 2050 through the use of new fuels.
We want to be a caring employer
Sustainable business is about people. We want to ensure well-being for all our employees and support their physical and mental health. We want people to be happy when they go to work and when they go home.
Transparency in reporting
We want our Sustainability efforts to be clear and well-measured. We are including our ESG reviews in the company quarterly reporting.