7 1 , II !lii4-41'1.V. 1 1 I. • p aul Merrett,
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logistics manager of Chichesterbased Nature's Way Marketing, thinks of himself as a bit of a juggler. The company grows thousands of acres of salad vegetables and processes them for supermarkets, catering outlets and wholesale markets throughout the country. It's Merrett's job to make sure that all the fresh produce is in the right place at the right time, on a very tight schedule.
"I get my orders by one o'clock in the afternoon, and that will all be delivered between midnight and three the next morning," he says. "You're juggling balls all day, and then about three o'clock in the afternoon its safe to let all the balls hit the floor and go.'' At its peak this involves sending up to 40 truck loads a day to national supermarket chains such as Tesco, and 400 deliveries a day to shops, hotels, pubs and restaurants from the catering depot in Goudhurst, Kent.
The company started in 1992 as a farming operation with a small dedicated fleet. This grew to a maximum of 22 vehicles last winter, but now this has dropped to 12 vehicles, all on rental.
"We have the beauty of a spot-rental agreement on contract pricing," says Merrett. "We beat them up to get the lowest price, and then if I don't want the 1'4 1 rip vehicle I can send it back. !don't like
signing contracts for three or four years because you tend to get clauses in those, and with the way the tax is there's no incentive to go out and buy vehicles."
The rest of the work is subcontracted out. One of the main contractors is George Kime of Boston, Lines, who was handling eight to 10 loads a day for Nature's Way last year. "Although he's based in Boston he doesn't worry where I send his vehicles. He's flexible and does a very good job," says Merrett.
The company also uses local hauliers on contract to supplement its fleet during the busy summer period. "The way forward is to grow the contracting side," Merrett believes. "The production will grow, but the transport side will probably be reduced."
The business has massive peaks and troughs, which Merrett says is the hardest thing to cope with. In June and July the company will be doing 35-40 loads a day of its own product, as well as 20-25 vehicles a day on the Tesco deliveries. In mid-winter this falls to 12-13 loads a day.
As the transport operation is a stand-alone unit within the company, Merrett has to make his own profit contribution. "My job is to make it earn money," he says. "So we're also bidding locally and competing with the other hauliers in the area." This includes national distribution to wholesale markets for a local company which produces peppers under 30 acres of glass, and the local primary distribution for Asda.
"We are a sevenday-a-week operation, and I find it a lot of fun," says Merrett. "We only shut from four o'clock Saturday afternoon to five o'clock on Sunday morning."
He has always been in produce, and finds the prospect of general haulage boring. "It doesn't really matter if a lorry load of timber doesn't get there at four o'clock this afternoon because you w still have it tomorrow morning," he remarks. In au business, today the load is worth money, but if you turn up late it's worth nothing. As a haulier I can't afford to do that. so I have to have my finger on thy button and keep it all going."