Overseas Moving Network International (OMNI) recently scrapped its One Continent Rule.

The OMNI conference took place in Albufeira in Portugal at the beginning of May.  OMNI (Overseas Moving Network International) is 25 years old this year and the delegates took every opportunity to celebrate this historic milestone in grand style at the Sheraton Pine Cliffs Resort in the Algarve sunshine.

OMNI is an exclusive network of some of the largest and best known international moving and relocation companies in the world. In some ways OMNI is recognised as the industry’s best kept secret.  But, in practice there is nothing secretive about OMNI.  It is simply a network of business partners who trade together all year and meet each spring to talk business and enjoy each other’s company. As always the event was five star in every way: not just the hotel but the social events, the food and the organisation was top drawer, just as OMNI expects.

An historic decision

This year the business sessions too took on a decidedly historic feel in keeping with its 25-year anniversary. Since its inception in 1986, OMNI has ruled that no member company may carry on a moving business in more than one continent.  The rule was in place to foster the agent-to-agent principle on which the organisation was based. However, over the years the rule has come under pressure from members that wished to expand into other continents to meet the needs of their customers and their own commercial objectives. The One Continent Rule (OCR), as it was called, was considered out of date by some and an essential element of OMNI by others. There was a risk that the OCR would cause division in what was, otherwise, a very happy family.

For this reason the OMNI Board decided to bring the OCR under the spotlight in Albufeira to ask the membership if it should stay, go or be reviewed. The discussion was given extra poignancy following the acquisition of Wridgways in Australia by Asian giant Santa Fe and the announcement just before the conference that Santa Fe also intends to buy Interdean in Europe this summer.  All three companies are OMNI members and the merged business would be in clear breach of the OCR.

There was much discussion both before the conference and during the business meetings in Portugal. There was, however, little if any argument. Most people agreed that this was a difficult problem that needed resolving amicably for the benefit of the OMNI membership as a whole.

During the AGM, after all the talking had been done, a secret ballot was taken. The result was for the OCR to be scrapped in its entirety. This bold decision has now cleared the way for OMNI members to follow their global ambitions without their membership of OMNI being affected. Although it remains to be seen how this change affects agent-to-agent trade within OMNI, and there is still a wide variance of opinion between OMNI companies on this matter, it was clear that the majority of OMNI members feel that this is a positive move.  It sets OMNI and its members on a much more secure footing to capitalise upon the opportunities that an increasingly global market provides.

Gordon Bell, President of OMNI and Chairman of Asian Tigers, at the OMNI conference in Portugal.