1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180 
Richard Fry
Page 60
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
GENERAL MANAGER, FRAMPTONS TRANSPORT Richard Fry was the first non-family member of the board of Somerset-based Framptons Transport, the culmination of a rapid rise after he joined the company as transport supervisor in 1990.
From a family with an army background, Fry started working life in the Royal Corps of Transport as a driver, rising to become a Corporal "who was the doing the job of a Staff Sergeant".
After 15 years in the army, Fry realised a qualification would be a good idea for work in civilian life. He took a City & Guilds course in transport management, became an agency driver and then got a job running the agency office.
Joining Framptons was a big break, he says, partly because the company was willing to reward hard work. "This is a company that recognises people on merit; I became transport manager, then general manager, then the first non-family member on the board."
The job also allowed him to provide a settled background for his children something the army life in which he grew up did not readily provide (Fry himself was born in Gibraltar).
In the 17 years he has been with Framptons, it has expanded hugely. It had just 12 trucks in 1990. Now it has 65, employs 140 people and has 9,300m2 of warehousing. Other things have changed too: then, drivers worked an average of 72 hours a week, now it is 52-55 hours,
Fry says: "I've wanted to be in a transport management role since my late 20s. I've worked hard, but I've also been lucky to be working for the right company."