NC-R spends more
Page 18
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
/Less than five months after investing £4.3 million on replacement vehicles, new technology and property (CM, October 18) National CarriersRoadline, the NFC's loss-making parcels division, is to spend a further £7.5 million and change its name in the summer, in a bid to become profitable by the close of the
company's current financial year which finishes at the end of October.
The bulk of the latest cash injection will be used to replace up to a third of NC-R's current 1,000-strong fleet of 7.5 tonne GVW collection and delivery vehicles. NC-R will also be buying more trailers and artic units. The new vehicles will be operationally leased.
According to managing director Graham Roberts, NC-R is hoping to break even, or hope fully make a small profit in 1986/87, while increasing its turnover to around £70 million. After the first quarter trading, Roberts says the company "is on target" to get back into the black.
Last year NC-R had a turnover of £66.1 million, but a trading loss of £2.6 million.
Despite trimming its workforce down to around 2,900 last year, Roberts has not ruled out the possibility of further redun dancies, although he says that any new staff losses "will not be substantial". Roberts is not revealing NC-R's new name although it seems certain that both the National Carriers and Roadline parts will be dropped, in order to give the company a fresh image, free from any bad memories of poor financial performance.
The new livery, however, is expected to be based on the current dark grey/black colour scheme already used on a number of NC-R trucks.
The recent introduction of new services, including 10am — Next-Day and Next-Day delivery, has been well received, says Roberts. Some 35% of NC-R's business is now coming from guaranteed service customers.
NC-R has yet to announce its choice of vehicle for its replacement C&D trucks, although Roberts says that NC-R is "encouraged" by the latest Cummins-powered Roadrunner. The company already runs a large number of '98'-Seriesengined models.
In any case Leyland would not be given the whole order, as NC-R intends to pursue a dual-source policy. Roberts wants to reduce the operating life of NC-R's C&D trucks to around five years, while artic units will be kept for three.
NC-R's Manchester branch has recently taken delivery of 80 new tractive units.