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Transfleet jobs slashed
Page 17
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• More than 50 jobs are to be axed at transport giant Transfleet because of poor trading conditions.
So far, salesmen, operational staff and administrative employees have borne the brunt of the redundancies: the company's public authority team, which recently lost both Terry Brace-Gough and Mike O'Brien to rival Ryder, has been cut back to two.
"Trading conditions in the first quarter of 1990 have been severely depressed in our truck rental operations as a direct consequence of high interest rates," says Transfleet managing director Terry Robinson. "This is compounded by the very high interest costs which the business has to bear relating to our vehicle fleets."
However, the company says its contract hire business is still strong and that more than 600 new contracts have been signed in the first half of the financial year.
Several UK depots have been closed over the past few months but Transfleet insists these are part of the firm's planned rationalisation programme since taking over truck rental and contract hire from sister firm Chart. Transfleet took on eight depots from Chart which pushed its net work up to 38 sites. Contracts with Pirelli, NatWest and Puritan Maid were transferred to Transfleet, joining contracts with Burton Group, Asda and Group Four.
Chart Distribution Services took control of Transfleet's distribution businesses, which included deals with Shell and Hamleys. But Transfleet retained its lucrative Marks and Spencer contract.