Specialist service built on Bedford and Ford reliability
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work comes from shipping the wealth out of the country and in taking the bits and pieces out of old castles.
Among the objects the cornpany can be confronted with are huge complicated chandeliers that the older residences seem to have in profusion. They may have to be dismantled into hundreds of small pieces, each of them tabbed for reassembly at the other end. With extremely ornate or complex chandeliers, photos or drawings of the object have to be made, a time-consuming process that can take days. It is also a work that requires skill and experience on the part of the packers.
—I wouldn't allow anyone with only three years experience to take down a chandelier," the md says. "An experienced
packer, someone who's been here for twenty or thirty years, would do the job.
''For the packers its very satisfying work when they've completed a job. The men like the work, and they get a certain. satisfaction when they've completed an assignment."
Gallery contractors
The goods handled are often Of very high value, paintings, sculptures, and other works of art. "We're contractors to the Municipal Gallery, the National Museum, and the National Gallery in Dublin. We were also appointed as the Irish agents of Christie's and Sotheby's, packing and shipping exhibits for their sales in London.'' "At the moment we're handling a removal from Ireland to the Isle of Man that will consist of seven 20ft containers.
For a company handling such expensive removals, the transport fleet is surprisingly small -consisting of two Bedford TKs and two Ford Transits, it is, the
md insists, more than enough for the company's sort of specialised work.
"The four vehicles we have are quite sufficient for us, supported by outside contractors when necessary. We have three or four sub-contractors that we use in particular."
Strangely, in a country where transport licences are difficult to come by, Beverly Smyth has a' full government licence. The • company could, if it wanted, run its own fleet all over the country, thus cutting out the need to sub-contract. Larry O'Shea expresses no interest at all: "The transport industry is very competitive, very cut-throat. We specialise in high-class removals. That's enough for us."
The vehicles are perfectly ordinary, standard models. At one time, to protect the loads, the company used to specify extra springing on the chassis, but no longer sees the need.
The 7-ton Bedfords are used
primarily to handle the contai .ners; the company owns sever twenty-footers and forty-footers which are shipped all over thi world from Dublin.
At the moment, Larry O'Shei adds, two of them are sitting ir Geneva, waiting for backloads -It's difficult finding a remova coming back to Ireland. The, might have to wait there for month, or even two months."
Like any other compan) whose origins date back to thi last century, the first transpor the firm employed was pulled ID' a horse. As the technolog progressed, so did the vehicles.
"We had steam motors for ; while," Larry . O'Shea says "then we had solid tyre peirc lorries. When we modernise( after the war we bough Leyland. They were very good but on the pricey side.
'"We went to Fords after that then switched over to Bedford: for the last 16 years for thi heavier trucks. We still us( Fords for the lighter vans. Th, Fords are very satisfactory, yen good on spare parts.
"We use the vans anywhen in the country, particularly fo picking up antique items. WI might be asked to go • ou and pick up a consignment o stamps, or jewellery, or .glass ware, for which we vvouldn' want to send a big lorry."
There are four drivers on thi vehicles and two spare driver for emergencies. Normally when going out to pack a largi job, as many as six. men vvil have to ride in the lorry, so thi company has had special doubt' cabs fitted.
The field of antiques rernova is not one in which there an • many competitors, says the md "I would say there's only abou a dozen experienced firms in thi• trade in Ireland.
"We prefer this sort of work I would say, frankly, that there'• no one in the business who car pack like us.