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GRASP EVERY OPPORTUNITY I write with reference to the "virtual
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demise of British truck manufacturing" and Peter Foden's comments about ERF.
I'm 52 and have been involved with road transport all my life, from an apprentice mechanic to HGV driver, owner-driver and a spell as a corporate transport manager. Now, through circumstance. I am an owner-driver again.
However, in my lifetime I have experienced the ERF product along with many other English trucks that have now long since gone. It is very common to have to move whole factories by container to other parts of the world where production costs are cheaper, so, although very sad, it's nothing new to see another British industry disappear to foreign lands.
Regrettably I can see England becoming a state similar to Switzerland, where there is very little production industry and a very high cost of living. The only major national industry left will be finance and its spin-offs. However, I also feel that the captains of our industry have to carry some of the blame, as the attitude has been one of reluctance to change and to give customers what they want, as opposed to manufacturers giving us what they think we want.
land many others firmly believe that there is still a future for some truck production in
England, but it needs to be what an operator truly wants. I have proved this by personal experiences with all brands of trucks and thinking about the job I wanted the vehicle to do.
I then secured several million pounds in venture capital as well as investments to assemble trucks here in England for a known manufacturer using English supplied components.
Regrettably, shortly after the offers, I suffered a heart attack and the enterprise halted, so I went back to being an owner driver. But opportunities are out there—it simply needs people to open their eyes and grasp them instead of making excuses for not trying.
Toby Holland,
Shaftesbury.