The origins of our company were established in October 1980, when the founders, Derek Colless and Paul Young, commenced trading from a one-room office in the suburbs of Brisbane as Colless Young & Co. The pair had previously worked together for two multi-national forwarders during the 1970s, which had been an exciting decade for the industry: sea cargo had made the transition from bulk shipping to containerisation, while the first regular wide-bodied aircraft, Jumbos and DC10s, had started servicing Brisbane’s new (Temporary) International Airport.
That small office was equipped with two essential pieces of office machinery: a typewriter for preparing Customs entries and a telex machine to maintain contact with agents around the world. Such equipment was costly in the 1980s and our long-time, loyal and valued client, Adina Watches, offered to share the telex service with us in an arrangement that proved mutually beneficial. The growth in our operations and staff soon necessitated larger premises and the business, now incorporated as Colless Young Pty Ltd, moved to Doggett Street in Fortitude Valley, where it went from strength to strength over the next two decades. During this time, continuing growth in global traffic required more sophisticated communications – first the fax machine and then computer, bringing with it the internet and emails, as well as online connection to the Customs Department.
Prior to the launch of Colless Young, the logistics industry in Australia had been built primarily around trade with Britain and Europe, and Brisbane was considered to be an outport of Sydney and Melbourne. Our company’s rise over four decades has paralleled the flourishing and maturity of Brisbane’s Port and Airport, along with the opening up of the Chinese and South East Asian markets. We were one of the first independent Australian brokers to forge agreements with Chinese agents when their government deregulated the industry there in the mid-1980s. That coincided with a surge in airfreight movements between Australia and Asia, New Zealand and the Pacific regions. Â
The new millennium saw us move into our present premises at Miller Street in Murarrie, located at a convenient distance to both the port and airport. We are proud to say that some of the clients who entrusted their business to us in our first year of operations are still with us today, resulting in solid friendships being forged between us throughout that time. Our clientele has grown over the years and we pride ourselves in offering personalised service, individually tailored to each of them. Similarly, we value the support of our team members, some who have also been with us for decades, and are like our family. We remain a family owned Australian business – this has been key to our success in the past and provides a sound platform from which we embark on our fifth decade.
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