Tartan Arrow join THC
Page 26
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By S. Buckley, Assoc. Inst.T
New venture brings projected road/rail parcels seivice under nationalized umbrella
SO THC continue to practise what they preach. In June, it declared in its annual report that road haulage was expanding and THC must expand with it. Now comes the official announcement that agreement has been reached with a view to Tartan Arrow being associated with the road haulage interests of the Transport Holding Company.
This is to be achieved through the medium of a holding company—Tartan Arrow Service (Holdings) Ltd.—which will be a subsidiary of THC and in which the principal shareholders of Tartan Arrow Service Ltd., namely the Gresham Trust Group and the directors and their families of Tartan Arrow, will have a substantial interest.
Tartan Arrow Service (Holdings) Ltd. has acquired from the Gresham Trust Group and the directors of Tartan Arrow Service Ltd. and their families all the deferred ordinary shares of Tartan Arrow Service Ltd. and the 462,100 ordinary shares of Tartan Arrow Service Ltd. held by them. Subsequently, the THC has acquired all the 500,000 ordinary shares of £1 each of Tartan Arrow Service (Holdings) Ltd. and £1m. 7 per cent debentures issued by that company. The Gresham Trust Group and the directors of Tartan Arrow Service Ltd. hold the remaining 500,000 shares of £1 each in Tartan Arrow Service (Holding) Ltd. which are of a special class, carrying restricted dividend rights.
The board of Tartan Arrow Service (Holdings) Ltd. will comprise Sir Reginald Wilson (deputy chairman and managing director, THC), who will be chairman; Mr. W. R. Alexander (chairman and managing director, Tayforth Ltd.); Mr. J. C. Chester (chairman, Tartan Arrow Service Ltd.) and Mr. J. M. Button (director, Gresham Trust Ltd.).
Tartan Arrow hit the headlines on October 19 last year when it announced an agreement with British Rail, for the carriage of its parcels and smalls traffic in special trains between London and Glasgow. The two new road/rail transfer depots being specially constructed at Bridgeton, Glasgow and Kentish Town, London at a cost of 1650,000 are now sufficiently advanced for a start to be made this month in operating container traffic. By early 1967 an overnight train in Tartan Arrow livery is expected to be running each evening between the depots.
Tartan Arrow's chief activity is in the collection and delivery of parcels traffic in central Scotland and South East England, and their main trunk routes are likewise between these two areas. Over the past 10 years traffic has built up to 300 tons a night and it is for this reason that Tartan Arrow plans, to augment this service with something faster and more efficient.
As it is understood that negotiations for the takeover of Tartan Arrow by THC were in the process of discussion in May this year, it will be seen that this exercise in road/rail rationalization was already in the pipeline before the issue of the White Paper op Transport Policy with its announcement of the proposed setting up of a National Freight Authority on July 27.
It is significant that in the THC annual report the comment is made that since threats of railway strikes or interruptions in postal services could cause a sudden diversion to road overnight and a swamping of the (parcels) services in consequence, it was necessary to plan, if possible, for a certain amount of spare capacity—though this point was far from being reached.
Already in the THC group BRS parcels has some 4,000 vehicles, 3,600 trailers and 11,600 staff, whilst in 1965 gross receipts amounted to £20.2m. and profits £2.6m.
Haulier loses appeal
AHAULAGE contractor, Mr. S. King,
Ellington, Hunts, has failed in his appeal to the Ministry of Housing and Local Government against the refusal of the County Council to permit him to continue to operate a depot in Malting Lane, Ellington.
Temporary consent, expiring at the end of 1964, had been granted, but it was stated at the public inquiry that the premises were still being used to maintain some 30 vehicles of various kinds.
According to the Council, a permanent depot would be quite out of character with local surroundings and could cause accidents.