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t's double or nothing
Page 24
Page 25
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Taking the reins of a family firm and overseeing its transformation are a challenge but it's one that Stuart Laight
relishes. Bridget Carter reports.
The driving force in any family transport firm is usually the founder who sets the wheels in motion and builds the business from scratch A watershed is reached when the second generation enters the frame and the business can either stagnate or grow.
For Stuart Laight, managing director at West Midlands-based express carrier Aspray Transport,it is definitely a case of the latter. The fiercely ambitious director doesn't just want growth; he has plans to double the company's turnover to £40m by 201 I. " It isn't a sexy industry...but I enjoy transport and I want to take the company further," he says. "I believe that Aspray Transport can double its size within five years."
The firm was founded by Stuart's father Patrick in 1982 and offers specialist transport for the fastenings and engineering industries. The young Laight worked part time for Aspray while at university and school, becoming a fulltime employee after completing a transport and planning degree 15 years ago. Since then he has moved up the ranks to be projects manager, commercial director and operations director; in January he took over as managing director.
In the past two years the firm has spent f.8.5m redeveloping itself to cope with the planned growth. And it has chosen to do this at one of the industry's most challenging points.
When the company's expansion plans began to be put into place in 2004, pre-tax profits fell to £503,000 from if .4m for the same period in 2003. However, turnover did rise, then rose again this year to £18.8m. up from £17.3m two years ago.
The redevelopment and expansion was undertaken when it was felt that the infrastructure had reached capacity. In 2004 it was already bumping against its nightly limit of 7,000 consignments; that figure has now more than doubled to 18,000.
Hungry for a challenge
"The city view is that you don't start building until you are at full capacity—sweat the assets as much as you can," says Laight. "But our view is that we cannot let service suffer."
Capacity issues aside, however. Laight says he also needed the challenge because he felt "too hungry" to let the firm stand still. "I firmly believe that you cannot stay on a plateau for a long period of time, If you get to a plateau, everyone will be complacent. If the cart stops when you are pushing it up the hill, it's harder to get it going again," he says.
Redevelopment hasn't come cheap: nine depots were refurbished at a cost of E,1.5m, and £6.5m was spent on theWillenhallhub,doubling it in size and installing a El .5m conveyor system. Another £500,000 was spent on the firm's newly formed sister company, Aspray Logistics.
The spending spree has also brought rewards in terms of increased business and recognition: Aspray Transport was named Birmingham Post Business of the Year in 2005.
Laight believes the fact that the firm operates in a niche market works in its favour.despite the ruthless pricing in the express sector. You have a situation on your hands, dealing with these firms as one of the smaller players, where they charge less and can afford to do so," he says. "But[believe it is the age of the specialist" Successful model "We've picked a model that works and we're happy to operate within those constraints," Laight says. -We've decided to offer the complete supply chain and will take anything from a Jiffy bag to a pallet to a bundle anywhere in the UK the next day for our niche customers," Laight says his father, the current chief executive of the company, is still highly involved: "Pat is very much hands on and gets stuck in.We complement each other." Laight believes customer service is the key to securing and retaining new customers; ontime deliveries and undamaged consignments are chief amongst his benchmark Mg criteria. Another key area is understanding the customer's specific needs and having the infrastructure in place to deal with specialist goods.
He has also hired two extra sales representatives and is looking to hire more. He has reshuffled his team, promoting staff within and bringing in some "new blood".
"We're building a good senior team. We aren't going down the route of a franchise. We want the personal contact," Laight says.
"We've put in a lot of blood, sweat and tears and I'll stay in transport as long as I can continue to enjoy it." •