Meet the stars
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CM caught up with two stars of Channel Five's Stobart documentary Jamie Hawkins and Mark Dixon to find out how life has changed since they filmed series one, and what to expect in series two
rhristopher Walton / Images: Stobart Group Jamie Hawkins FROM ROCKING TO TRUCKING: Remember the 80s rock band Surface? No? They released the album Race the Night in 1986 and had to adopt the name Beneath the Surface in the US, because Surface was an R&B band there.
The drummer in Surface was Jamie Hawkins, who went on to drum for Starfighters and Street Legal (search Street Legal rock band on YouTube for a full blast of 80s rock as Hawkins gives it the full John Bonham treatment).
These days Hawkins is a driver for Stobart Group, running out of its refrigerated depot in Alcester, Warwickshire, and one of the faces of the company in this year's smash hit Channel Five show, Eddie Stobart: Trucks and Trai
It could all have been so different. In the 80s, when hair was big and guitar rifts distorted. Hawkins and Surface were playing pubs and clubs across the UK when they were spotted by the manager of Whitesnake. They signed a deal to support the band and were on the brink of the breakthrough they'd dreamed of.
it was going to be massive," says Hawkins "But the manager had a big argument with our singer and he would not let us go. We came so close. It's not about how good you are. It is who you know and the timing..."
Speaking of timing, Hawkins' second rise to fame owes a lot to fortune. "They asked for volunteers to make this TV show and one of the guys I work with, Bruce. volunteered. But the day before they were due to film, I got a phone call from Bruce and he asked me to do his filming for him because he was too nervous," An offer of free ba bysitting clinched the deal for Hawkins, Believe it or not, a career in 80s soft metal can lead to a career driving a truck for one of the most prominent logistics firms in the country. Hawkins picked up his Class 2 licence in 1979 because he was driving the tour vehicle for the band. When the music dream died, he turned to driving for a living.
One of his first jobs was with TNT, making multi-drops in a van. "I got sent to a funeral parlour in Birmingham one day and I was waiting when they came out with this box. I said 'What's in that?' They said it was an Asian chap going back to Bangladesh. He was dead. but was in this box that was hermetically sealed. It had a window over his face.
"So I moved all the parcels and put it in the back of the van,! went home to show my [man. I brought her outside, shifted all
the parcels and showed her the box. She ran screaming across the road."
Not long afterwards. Hawkins joined Express Dairies. The firm had a chequered corporate history, being purchased by Corby Chilled in 2004, after it was merged with Arla Food F3lakes Chilled Distribution, which in turn was bought by Innovate, and finally snapped up out of administration by Stobart. "I kept most of the uniforms I had for them," he says. "They are all pretty much the same colour. We should just have had Velcro badges! It makes a change to have a bit of stability."
Hawkins is proud to work for Stobart because they are a British institution, but he is not a truck fanatic. "I see it as more of a work tool," he says. "As long as I can use it to get back home at the end of the day, that is it," Working for Stobart comes with its fair share of responsibility. It is one of the biggest brands in Britain and, notoriously, has its own fan club. "It is nice because it
makes you feel a Hi more special as a driver. Other drivers might look down on you with a hit of animosity because of the name, because it is one of the biggest companies and it's getting bigger. But that is the position and that is the name."
Like his boss. Stobart Group chief executive Andrew Tinkler, one of Hawkins' pet hates is waste. Working in the chilled sector, he understands that controlling the temperature of food is critical for quality control in supermarkets, hut to this day he cannot understand a truck being turned away from a depot simply because it has missed his time slot. "Especially in circumstances like getting stuck in traffic." he says. "What a waste of diesel."
Channel Five has been filming a Christmas special at the Alcester depot. looking at the distribution of turkeys. Hawkins isn't too sure if he will be in this episode, hut he does explain some of the tricks behind the programme. On the show (episode four for those keeping count) his major challenge was negotiating a Light bridge in his 44-tonner so he could get to a farm for collection. If the TV hyperbole was to be believed, it was up there with the moon landing for complexity.
"That bridge was not so tight, but they wanted to make it more dynamic. I had to do it four times and I had loads of room on the far side. You have to maintain your professionalism when filming," he says.
"You have to concentrate on the job you are doing and try and be a bit of a character. A lot of the drivers said I was crap, but it was all a bit tongue in cheek."
Mark Dixon
A NATURAL ON TV: life has been a whirlwind for Mark Dixon this year. The Stobart Group tramper, who has been with the firm for the past four years, was looking forward to his summer holiday when he was called to a meeting at its Oxfordshire depot in June.
It was the start of some crazy months that reached a bizarre peak two weeks ago when he found himself handing over giant cheque to Boyzone singer Ronan Keating at a charity do in Battersea.
If the hit Channel Five TV series Eddie Siobari: Trucks and -Trailers had a 'lead; then it was Dixon. He appeared in at least half of its six-episode run when it was screened in September and October, and is already being filmed for its return. Little did he know what he was letting himself in for when he agreed to do it in the summer.
"I got told to go to our Oxfordshire depot. When I got there, I met Channel Five and had an interview with them. You think nothing of it at the time, butt did not think it would be like it was, and I did not think I would be in it as much as I was.
"1 am still shell-shocked, but I would not say it was life-changing," says Dixon.
The self-confessed truck enthusiast started his working life at GW Sissons, in his native Yorkshire, and moved on to work for James Irlam and Britvic.
For the past four years, he has been working out of Stobart's Crick depot, driving a Volvo FH460 Globetrotter XL. Famously, the truck is named after his daughter. Phoebe Grace, when Mark was the 'victim' of a slightly tearful big reveal at the end of episode two.
"I love working as a tramper. You get used to the lifestyle. About five years ago I gave it up and started to work days, hut I am so used to it, it gets in your blood. You get used to haying that time to yourself' he says.
Dixon says he genuinely wanted to work for Stobart and insists that the firm does all it can to look after its employees. For the man who has been one of the public faces of the firm on national television. Dixon is now being repaid in kind.
Earlier this month, the company attended the annual Emeralds and Ivy Ball, a charity evening for Cancer Research UK and The Marie Keating Foundation organised by Boyzone singer Ronan Keating and his wife Yvonne.
Stobart Group donated £151,700, a pound for every mile that the truck Phoebe Grace travelled in 2010. Dixon found himself on stage with the singer, and fellow driver and star of the show Fiona Soltysiak, to hand over the cheque.
"It was amazing," he says. "At the end of the day. I am a lorry driver and the same as everyone else who gets to work for Stobart as a driver.
"I know this ain't going to last forever, but standing on stage with Ronan Keating was just surreal."
The best part about the evening though, says Dixon,was getting to spend time with Stobart Group CEO Andrew Tinkler and chief operating officer William Stobart.
"I went to Battersea on the Saturday afternoon and saw the stage being built [for the evening]," he says. -Tinkler was there working as an angle grinder, getting it done. It shows you what the man is about."
As part of the deal, Dixon will drive a new Volvo next year. with Stobart once again donating a pound to the charity for every mile he drives.
But before the donation is made next year there is the small matter of getting the deliveries done so they can be filmed for the Christmas special (scheduled to be shown on Friday, 7 January).
When CM spoke to Dixon he was already in the middle of filming. Without giving too much away, it will all be about delivering for Christmas, with Dixon tramping mince pies and drinks, while Sohysiak is delivering turkeys.
The cameras were also at Battersea. and some of the footage might form part of series two. which is due to be shown around Easter time.
So how is Dixon coping with the adoration of the growing legions of Stobart spotters?
"Most places I go I don't get noticed, as I am wearing normal clothes and I'm not in uniform. But Fiona and 1 met up at King's Cross before the Battersea do and people were noticing us.
"Some people say hello, some want their picture taken and I was even giving autographs. But I am just a lorry driver," he says. • • If you missed any of the Stobart episodes, read our live blogs of each episode: www.roadtransport.condstohartshow
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