Stena Line has just completed the full integration of the Liverpool and Heysham routes that it acquired from DFDS. Since approval for the purchase of the routes was given in June, a major systems integration project has been underway to integrate the new routes on to Stena Line’s Irish Sea business. The addition of the routes brings the total number of Stena Line routes on the Irish Sea to six.
Stena Line Area Director Michael McGrath said: “Integrating a £40 million business takes a lot of planning and teamwork. To do it in a matter of months has been a fantastic achievement.
“Obvious examples of the integration are the livery on the ships and the signage at the terminals. Behind the scenes there has been a colossal amount of work carried out to ensure that all our booking, pricing, financial and marketing systems and procedures have been applied to the new routes so that no matter when, where or how our customers book and use the new routes they will be a seamless part of the Stena Line business model.
“A lot of preparation work has also been carried out with our freight and travel trade customers, bringing them up to speed on the use and benefits of the new systems and ensuring a smooth transition took place on 26th September. The feedback to date from customers has been very positive and we are all looking forward to the new routes being fully fledged members of the Stena Line family.
“On the Irish Sea we now have a formidable range of options for our freight and travel customers with an expanded choice of routes, sailings and ships. In fact, our customers can even choose to go out with us on one route and return on another one of our routes as part of a seamless booking system – that’s real customer choice.”
