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S teve Barclay is living proof that a hau with 44

19th September 2002
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Page 41, 19th September 2002 — S teve Barclay is living proof that a hau with 44
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trucks can take on a major f operator and win. Barclay's if Warton Freight Services, is basec Barking, East London. He's a local n and proud of his East End heritage." Stepney born and bred," he says. Des his southern location, Barclay decided to run unit Manchester on plasterboard deliveries. It was conti ous, solid business.

One day a big fleet operator got in touch v Barclay's customer in a bid for the work. M hauliers would have buckled—Barclay respondec establishing a subsidiary in Manchester: Wal Freight Services (Northern).

Today, Warton Freight Services (Northern) run: trucks and has a £3m turnover. Barclay owns ha] the firm; Sean Pariso, who used to be Barclay's tr; port manager, owns the other half. WFS (North+ operates out of Manchester and Birmingham, wi ing independently of Warton Freight Services.

Down in London, Barclay oversees his own flee 32 HGVs based in Barking and 12 in Maidstone. ' Barking depot, complete with two competent lool Rottweilers, stands within the large industrial be East London.

"Ninety per cent of our Barking work is in const don and the other io% is in leisure goods like gar furniture," says Barclay. The Maidstone trucks ( centrate on shifting paper, and the firm has invested in specialist Beaver plant trucks which c customers' machinery. The construction work includes delivering loads such as bagged sand to building sites. but Warton trucks also handle larger consignments such as crane sections. These are large, but never fall into the abnormal loads category.

Hiab and Cormech lorry-mounted cranes feature prominently in the fleet—handballing is a thing of the past: "Things have changed now; you can't work in this market without a lorry-mounted crane. I choose to run at 38 tonnes. Anything higher than that and the customers want you to carry more but for the same rate."

Look eastward across Waterloo Bridge and you'll see that the City around St Paul's Cathedral is dominated by tower cranes. Construction is booming and the fleet spends a lot of time delivering materials to London building sites. "Construction in London has gone mad over the last few years," says Barclay. His trucks delivered a large amount of building materials to Canary Wharf in the early 19905.

"We go to the West End and the City area a lot." he adds. "The problem is, one of the drivers may stop to ask for directions. Within seconds a traffic warden will have stuck a parking ticket on his truck. In a typical week we get four to five parking tickets."

The sheer number of vehicles using central London's roads means that the average road speed is less than 9niph. "We've got to allow a minimum of one-and-a-half hours for a nine-mile trip," says Barclay, "And every day all I hear is that one of the major roads—often the M25—is shut because of congestion."

The London Lorry Ban poses serious logistical problems at Warton Freight. It leads to longer journeys and Barclay points out that, ironically, the Ban often forces his trucks to rumble past more homes than they would have done if they had stuck to a more efficient, direct route.

"Haulage is getting harder, and insurance costs are getting out of hand," he says. "Over the past year my transport insurance premium has gone up from o,000 to £ioo,000, and on top of that I have a monthly fuel bill of between £58,000 and £60,000." He blames the rocketing premiums on the development of an American-style claim-foreverything culture.

In addition to the construction, leisure goods and paper work, Warton Freight Services hauls generators, and Barclay provides something akin to an emergency service. When electricity fails in a SouthEast district Barclay scrambles one of his trucks and gets a generator to the scene. He provides a 24-hour service and, unlike many bosses, chooses to make these emergency calls himself.

Barclay started out as an owner-driver in 1991; now his firm turns over an impressive 13.2m with the Manchester subsidiary a substantial operation in its own right. That commitment to road haulage has carried a high price: "The job has cost me two marriages," he admits. Barclay's recipe for success is simple: Hard work and, perhaps more importantly, the will to defend your territory, especially when the fleet giants are on your tail. "You've got to stand your ground," he asserts.

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People: Sean Pariso, Stepney

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