1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224 
PHILLIPS OF SEAHOUSES
Page 65
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Phillips of Seahouses is based in the village of Belford, which is near some of the most striking stretches of coastline in Britain. Holy Island is just three miles away across the Fenham flats, and Bamburgh Castle sits majestically on a rocky outcrop a couple of miles to the east.
The border town of Berwick is 14 miles up the Al. This is remote country, but the firm's 16 trucks are busy. Phillips' 1,350m2 warehouse, though, is underused.
"We used to concentrate on tippers," says managing director Jim Phillips. He still runs two tippers—which are used to collect a: :regates from local quarries and deliver to roadworks—but the firm has spread its wings.
Phillips of Seahouses also operates a six-wheel Oaf rigid, and 13 tractive units, including Mercedes-Benz, Volvos, Oafs and MANs. The trailer fleet comprises 18 Tautliners and two flats.
"The company was founded in Seahouses, by my grandfather, in 1947. He started with one vehicle; my father Joe joined the firm and later I joined, along with John, my brother," explains Phillips.
Tragically, John was killed in a road accident in 1993. Family members still dominate the company. Hazel, Jim's wife, deals with accounts, and Carol, his mother, is in charge of administration. Joe drives one of the HGVs, and is due to retire later this year. Ben, the late John's 15year-old son, washes the trucks every Saturday.
The work is varied, Phillips says; "We carry a lot of potatoes, which we pick up from Scotland and Yorkshire; we then deliver them to anywhere east of the Ml. The spuds are carried in one-tonne bulk bags, and we have special £500 blankets which keep the potatoes warm—
frost is the main concern." He has bought temperature gauges too, so he can ensure that the spuds stay in perfect condition. Potatoes are more varied than you may imagine. The Scottish versions tend to be used for seed, whereas those grown in English fields are best for frying. For the Phillips family, this diversity creates a perfect backloading opportunity: English spuds are dispatched to Scotland, while their Scottish cousins are delivered to southern England.
Phillips' HGVs sometimes backload bricks, too. "We also do a lot of plywood out of Blyth Docks, which is shipped in from the Far East. We deliver it to every Builder Centre in Scotland, as far north as Wick."
The firm also hauls a lot of imitation trees, which are collected from a local industrial estate and dropped off at wholesalers in the Midlands.
One of the fork-lifts is mounted on a culainsider, the other on a flatbed. Once at the customers premises, they shuttle to and fro, picking up sods of turf and depositing them where needed.
Fertiliser is frequently carried, and sometimes it comes under the Hazchem classification, which means that Phillips of Seahouses must have Dangerous Goods Safety Adviser personnel either based on the premises, or have freelance DGSA guidance in place.
The cover at Phillips comes in the guise of Hazel. "The exams were blooming hard," she con ments. "But it was worth it because it's quite expensiv to employ a DGSA."
Potatoes, fertilizer, chipboard and turf mean a lot HGV movements, but Phillips admits that his warehous space is not being optimised. The building, which is purpose-made fertilizer shed, simply isn't attracting th customers. Two elderly double-decker buses stand the corner of the building; vehicle enthusiasts tinker wil these at weekends.
"The warehouse is under-utilized. Farmers do ni tend to use the warehouse for storing their fertilizi anymore—times [for the warehouse] are hard laments Phillips.
The transport side of things, though, has developE nicely. Some firms grow to the extent that their person touch is lost. "Phillips of Seahouses has expanded but has kept its traditional family image," insists Jo his father.