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 
'Not a good year financially' for Massey Wilcox
Page 49
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Competitive market rates and a lack of good drivers are two of the challenges facing this high-profile Somerset operator. Roanna Avison reports.
CHILCOMPTON,SOMERSET-BASED haulier Massey Wilcox has blamed a rise in turnover of only 0.8% on the competitive nature of the market. In the financial year to 31 May 2006 its turnover was £10.8m with year-on-year pre-tax profits up from 1243,100 to £260,300.The company says the market remains highly competitive, with rates often reflecting the lower operating cost of smaller operators.
Its reports warns: "Growth in the market is not expected to increase significantly with the slow decline in manufacturing in the South-West region.Therefore growth within the company can only be achieved at the expense of competitors or through the ability to identify and market added-value services."
MD Robert Wilcox adds: "We had a good year, but not financially. We've retained our work and gained a little bit more, but we've found there's a market rate and we have to fit our costs around that."
He reports that good drivers have been hard to come by: "What concerns me more is the standard of what's available.That is a reflection of the poor standard of driving generally and is compounded by the state of the roads. "The loss of courtesy makes it hard for [truck] drivers to do their job."