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The Welsh Valleys have become a rewarding outlet for Iveco
Page 72
Page 73
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than to Dragon Truck and Van. Now, reports Kevin Swallow, Jaime
Powell is ready to take it to the nexlevel.
Until 2003, Iveco's presence in Cardiff and the Valleys was restricted to a satellite depot a stone's throw from the sea. When Bristol-based Bryan Brothers pulled out of Wales leaving a void, Iveco was happy to let Day's in Swansea and Bristol Street Commercials from Gloucester embrace it.
Steve Powell, chairman of Dragon Truck and Van, explains: -It was only when we showed interest that Iveco realised there might be a potential market in Cardiff."
Initially Iveco was concerned, he continues, as Dragon wasn't the standard applicant for a truck franchise. In 1996 he'd chosen to move into vehicle recovery after more than 30 years of running garages, service stations, car dealerships. workshops and body repairers (see panel).
"I saw [recovery] as a bit of a step towards retirement really; no one was doing it professionally in South Wales-There were 14 operators in Cardiff when we started, and now there are just two," he says.
It meant training, uniforms, adhering to environmental issues and complying with health and safety. "Today we're recognised throughout South Wales if anything rolls over, we're the only ones with the equipment for recovery. We're in a strong position," he says.
Startling growth
It was this professionalism that won Iveco over."We brought skills from other industries, expertise from car dealerships. The growth we've had has shocked Iveco," he adds.
Now that retirement is three years away for Powell, the next generation is in place to take Dragon forward;Steve's daughter and dealer principal Jaime Powell ran her own marketing company and, after rejecting a career as a police officer, arrived in 2004.
Fears that her marketing experience and the maledominated industry would create obstacles proved unfounded. She was welcomed and learnt from the experience around her. Her unique background helped, she says, and the books agree.
Last year Dragon sold more than 600 vehicles."Bryan Brothers did £4m in its last year here.We raised turnover to £.6m in the first year, and we turned over £.17m last year," she says.
Being run as a satellite depot didn't help the preceding dealership, nor, says Steve, did the owners' nationality. "There is a real demarcation between the Welsh and the English; the Welsh like to deal with Welsh people. Being Welsh-owned is the big secret to success in South Wales."
So is location. Cardiff is difficult to reach from the Valleys so Dragon, keen to utilise territory stretching up towards mid-Wales. invested £2m in a second site at Merthyr Tydfil, which opened last year.
The site captures the alternative route for operators from the Midlands running down the M50 to Ross-on-Wye and accessing west Wales, avoiding the notorious M4 corridor. Jaime explains: "We saw the Heads of the Valley [A4651as a developing road, becoming all dual carriageway. In the last few years there has been a lot of investment in that route."
It's an emerging area for retailers too:a new Welsh National Assembly head office creates further opportunities. Merthyr is a mining town with a small community where people haven't moved."To get into Merthyr we realised you've got to employ Merthyr people.That played a big role in being accepted into the town," Steve says.
Site to behold
The site, a former steel rolling mill, is twice the size of the one in Cardiff. It has a privatisationready MoT bay and digital and analogue tachograph testing. Merthyr is central for several councils— Rhondda andTaff, Neath, Gwent, Powys —so Dragon installed a high-tech environmental commercial wash for dustcarts.
It sold 300 vehicles to Rhondda and Taff and captured the Hitachi Capital tender to supply and maintain Merthyr Borough's fleet. Rapid growth turns attention to the used market.
"We started [selling used products] last year and recognised that we needed to put a stocking plan in place to get to that second level," says Jaime. "We took on Very experienced salespeople, Mark Reece * and Colin Brookes, who turned over £500,000 last year from setting up halfway through."
Stock comes from Iveco,partexchange, and in-house from rescue and car transporter fleets. Dragon's fleet is 80% Iveco with 62 of the 80 vehicles on rescue and logistics.-We run the product so we know how good it is," says Jaime.
The dealership is on course fora L2Orn turnover this year, with rescue accounting for Dm and transportation ft .2m.The company employs more than 150 people.
Despite Euro emissions standards and digital tachographs causing disruption, Dragon remains proactive to keep pace with operators' requirements. "If we don't have stock then customers won't swap," Jaime says."We are keen to stock more now to encourage business."
And there seems to be plenty on the horizon. An opencast mine at Merthyr offers construction opportunities, the 18-tonne market is emerging and Dragon has secured a three-year contraflow contract with McAlpines on the M4 widening project."It's an eight-year deal, and we hope to secure the remaining five years," Steve says—but you get the impression he will have retired by then. •