Difficult task to raise rate
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JOHN WOODHOUSE, of J.E. Woodhouse (Haulage) Ltd, Newton, Powys, has four sons but none of them shows any inclination to enter his 12-vehicle business. This is perhaps not surprising.
For more than 30 years John has risen at 4.30am and worked until about 5pm every day of the year except Christmas Day. He specialises in bottled-milk distribution and furniture removals. Apart from running his business he is chairman of Mid Wales Group Training Association and joint chairman of the National Advisory Council for Group Training Associations. He also has a strong civic sense and is deputy mayor of Newtown.
This is a splendid example to the young but is not everybody's idea of living. Apart from that, not everyone would want to enter an industry in which to justify a modest increase in charges customers commonly expect to be shown a haulier's private accounts.
John suddenly found that through accepting lower rate increases than he genuinely required over a period of years, he urgently needed another 47 per cent from his principal customer to keep afloat. This did nothing for his popularity but after having his books vetted by the RTITB's Training Assistance in Small Companies (TASC) team, he was able to submit proof of need to his main customer and secured the required increase.