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DEN BY TRANSPORT

15th July 2010, Page 35
15th July 2010
Page 35
Page 35, 15th July 2010 — DEN BY TRANSPORT
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Back in the 50s, believe it or not, Denby was on the government payroll, where he spent two years of national service in the Royal Navy. He left in 1955 and started working for Lincoln Tyres, a company that did the distribution for Dunlop, Michelin and Goodyear In 1960 the km was sold to Doncaster firm FJ Wilson, Its owner, Frank Wilson, asked Denby to stay on and a few months later the company bought struggling local operator Atkin Bros, mainly because it had the correct A and B licences and it was the easiest way to get the right operator licensing at the time. However, Atkin Bros struggled and Denby was sent in to "sort out the bloody mess" .

"They were a real country business," Denby says. "Although they had 24 vehicles, a lot of them were livestock wagons, or tippers for carrying grains. The three brothers who ran the business were all in their 605 and there was no son to carry it on. Some of the vehicles were even running on petrol, not diesel.

''We had to change the business, get rid of the livestock and tippers, start running vehicles over a longer distance and get industrial work going. I was trying to stay away from agriculture, even though we were in an agricultural county. By the mid-1960s we were getting work on the banks of the Humber. where industry was booming. I put my best suit on and went out and won some business." At the same time (1962) what was Atkin Bros (Langworth) changec its name to the more familiar Denby Transport. Denby. while still a director, now leaves the day-to-day running to his son Peter Denby, the MD. Peter joined the company in 1980 and now has a controlling share in it. Dick then began to capitalise on the success the compan had in France Denby explains that much of the firm's initial success in France (it started doing business there in 1973) came from two fronts: first, he speaks fluent French, and second, the company was flexible in its ability to deliver compared to some French operators.

"We quickly found out that French haulers would not pay their drivers to be abroad at the weekend because of the overnight costs. Say we went to a customer with a factory deep in the south, like Lyon or Marseille, the French local carriers would look to leave and deliver in the same week to the UK. but if an order came out on Thursday for delivery in the UK on Monday it was for our boys. They could see we were complementary."

For years Denby Transport exclusively ran into France, ignoring thc big markets of Germany, Italy and Spain, solely to build up a reputation with French customers. Today the company has broadene its geographical spread to take in Belgium and Spain.

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Organisations: Royal Navy
Locations: Lyon, Marseille

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