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J. P. Toohey
• John Toohey, 1971 chairman of the Transport Managers' Club, London area, is a transport man through and through. In fact he confesses that he has, up to the present, had little time for hobbies because of his total involvement in road transport. Until recently he was a director of East Anglian Carriers at Silvertown, East London ; under the United Carriers reorganization he has become divisional manager of its East Anglian division.
John, an associate member of the ITA, also belongs to the Norwich Traffic Club and spends a great deal of his free time attending meetings and lectures. In addition, he goes to R HA meetings in his area which are open to all managers of member companies.
His total involvement in transport began back in 1938 when he joined P.X. Transport in Poplar, and apart from a short break as an engine-room artificer in the Royal Navy during the war, road transport is the only business he has been involved in.
Now that John has moved from East London to East Anglia he has some sympathy for his former colleagues he believes that a transport career in a large city can only mean total involvement and that the pressures of business do not allow any "think" time.
Since moving away from these pressures he has been taking a fresh look at transport and distribution problems: he believes that own-account operators should concentrate on manufacturing their products and leave their distribution problems to professional transport contractors.
As London area TMC chairman, John finds that quality of membership rather than quantity is the important factor, and he warns that admission will be as difficult during his year in office as it has been in the past. Under his chairmanship the club will continue with its blend of social and business ingredients, fulfilling the role of co-ordinator between members in what he describes as "these difficult times".
"Continued success in business depends on service to the customer," he said, "and, equally important, a company should try to ensure that it has a number of small accounts rather than be depending for business on one large account which can disappear so easily overnight."
It seems now that John Toohey's total involvement period is over. He has been seen for the first time in many years at football matches and he admitted, perhaps a little apprehensively, that he intends to take up golf.
I.S.