All-rounder with special skills
Page 43
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
continued from page 36 Because deliveries to pubs, etc, would not fit in well with Greenwoods' normal distribution activity, wines and spirits are not handled. A long-standing specialist operation in the delivery of oils and greases to garages in central southern England—work beginning for Castrol in 1951—is still undertaken energetically. One is compelled to reflect on the extraordinary flexibility of Greenwoods who think nothing of moving a zoo—they have carried giraffes in large cases with the animals' long necks pointing skywards!
Management meetings
Co-ordination in Greenwoods takes the form of monthly management meetings of depot principals in the southern area. Occasional meetings are held of all depot managers, including those from northern depots. In the South, there has been some rationalisation of depots following the company mergers producing Greenwoods.
The Rownhams drivers get a proficiency and productivity bonus and earn on average, including bonus, around £60. Mr Baker would like to see personal taxation greatly reduced, even if this meant that pay levels were stabilised. High personal taxes are seen as a disincentive to personal effort, as well as to trade. In passing, Mr Baker expressed the view that the industry should make the Road Haulage Wages Council work, despite its derisory wage levels, in view of the EEC's ban on bonus schemes.
With the consolidation phase approaching completion the name of Greenwoods Transport can expect to become better known, and those who have worked for so many years with constituent companies can see another vehicle livery promoted without too many old loyalties emerging.
The constant pressure for better standards of management stressed by Paddy Bennett, and given greater impetus by the Gold Fields connection, should ensure a bright future and the possibility of promotion for any Greenwoods employee of the right age with ambition and courage.