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Operating in one of the poorest counties in Britain is

23rd March 2000, Page 51
23rd March 2000
Page 51
Page 52
Page 51, 23rd March 2000 — Operating in one of the poorest counties in Britain is
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

no picnic, even if that county is a holiday paradise in summer. But one Cornis haulier has managed to thrive and double his fleet even in such unpromising

circumstances. Gill Murr reports.

f you've watched A Question of on TV over the past year, you might have spotted a man on the pitch at Twickenham, dressed in Cornish tartan and tossing an oversized Cornish pasty over the goal bars. Step forward Brian Chenoweth, president of Truro Rugby Club and owner of Cornish haulage company Aggregates & Minerals.

Chenoweth is a Cornishman through and through. As well as his love of rugby, he is also chairman of the Cornish Pilot Gig—for which he recently rowed from Newquay to Ireland; and often sings solo in the Mevagissey Male Voice Choir. And, like any businessman, he takes a keen interest in the local economy.

"Cornwall used to be so industrious. I'll never understand why they closed the last remaining tin mine in Europe. You never know when we'll need tin again," he says.

Because behind the delight of pasties, clotted cream and stretches of beautiful coastline, lies a county in trouble. Cornwall, especially west Cornwall, has one of the worst employment rates in the country (about 5,6%), and its manufacturing base has all but disappeared. The closure two years ago of South Crofty, the last of the tin mines, brought to an end a 4,000-year-old Cornish industry; while farming and agriculture, as in the rest of the country, is in dire straits.

Things have become so bad that the European Union has allocated a grant for £300m to the region under its Objective One scheme, hoping to start some new manufacturing trades. For Aggregates & Minerals, however past three years have been kind, and company has managed to double its fle vehic_les from 15 to 31.

Chenoweth explains that, despite decline in manufacturing, there has be huge boom in house building and consi tion going on that has benefited his bush "Because property prices in the Southhave sky-rocketed, people are selling up t and buying something bigger, or a sec home. in Cornwall. This, of course, does for the local people who are struggling to 1 up with the rising property prices, Cornwall County Council has stepped i build, especially for first-time buyers."

Tourism

Ihe compan), has also done well out healthy tourist trade. "Although the eclipse of the sun last year was more Iota] collapse, we're getting a lot of IA from the development of hotels and ca sites," says Chenoweth.

So, as one of the main contractor! Cornwall County Council, you can see A&M is doing so well.

Its business is split 50/50 between buying and supplying of aggregates and ! clearing. When huge building contracts going on, A&M is invited to tender for supply of aggregate and Chenoweth says I usually hope to win on price and service.

"We've got about six main competitors we're mindful of the personal touch anc out of our way to give a good service."

D This personal touch includes constant communication with the site agents to keep up with their requirements. It also means that Chenoweth is accessible at all times.

The waste side of the business includes running about 8o skips for hire to the construction industry and the public.

The company has a good reputation for this kind of work, often undertaking large muckshifting jobs—the most recent using some 18 trucks to move about 4o,000m of soil on Bodmin Moor.

Having been in the game since he was 19. Chenoweth is immensely proud of his haulage heritage.

Experience

His grandfather. Joseph Henry Chenoweth, started his own haulage business (JH Chenoweth & Sons) in the 1930s, running 13 REO trucks for Cornwall County Council. (Older readers may recall that REO stands for RE Olds, a Cornish native who emigrated to the US and started building trucks.) The company was then handed down to Joseph's son, Brian Chenoweth's father.

At the request of the grandfather on his death, the business was sold as part of his estate, but was later bought by Brian Chenoweth and his brother, Eric, in 1972. As he had been brought up in a haulage/garagetype environment, Chenoweth initially ran the business as a commercial vehicle repairs operation. But in the early 198os he bought five concrete mixers and ran them as an owner-driver operation.

In 1987 Chenoweth bought out his brother, Eric, and created the parent company to a group of business concerns, Aggregates & Minerals. The name came about as the company, at this time, was doing a lot of work with the tin mining industry in the west of Cornwall and the clay industry in the east.

Today the business group comprises Aggregates & Minerals, Rhos Construction (civil engineering earth and groundwork) and Chenoweth Garage—a filling station, MoT and car repair outfit—and employs 50 people.

And it's very much a family concern. Chenoweth's wife, Valerie, is co-director, his eldest daughter is finance controller, his youngest is in purchase ledger, a cousin is in charge of maintenance and repair and, until recently, his youngest son worked in the shipping department.

Home for the company is a 1.5-acre depot, at Stenalees near St Austell, which includes the main workshop and fleet operating centre. The head office, dealing with sales and shipping, is based at Tregenney in nearby Truro, and also houses the waste transfer station. Here waste is segregated and distributed to the correct facility, adhering to environmental health regulations.

As most of his business is tonnagemotivated, Chenoweth has found that it is now more cost-effective to run 2o-tonne trucks. This is due partly to a new road infrastructure in the area.

"I tried to do it seven or eight years ago but it didn't work because of the roads, Now it's much more profitable to take on large contracts with eight-wheelers," he says.

This is largely why, over the past four years, the company has made a positive move towards purchasing newer vehicles with greater diesel miles per gallon. As A&M is so localised, with no longdistance or overseas work. Chenoweth says he is happy with radio-controlled vehicles, rather than installing a tracking system.

"By carefully moving the vehicles from east to west, we hardly ever have any dead miles," he explains.

Chenoweth clearly respects his drivers and says they are paramount to the business's success. "I'm really proud of my drivers and their professional attitude and enthusiasm. I always say that our greatest asset is not the truck, but the workforce."

Problems

Prime Minister Tony Blair was given a mixed reception on a recent visit to Cornwall to bolster support for the government, particularly among farmers. If he'd had the chance, what would Chenoweth like to have asked?

"First I'd have asked why road diesel is taxed so heavily in the UK and why it could not be brought in line with European prices. I'd also have pressed for answers on the pending road improvements to the A3o at Gosmore."

Then he'd probably have offered him a Cornish pasty.


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