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MOR TOT POWER PEOPLE
Page 126
Page 127
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It is only four years old, but Southend-based Power Bodies has designs on a massive slice of the removals market, as a result of an exclusive deal with BAR.
II A deal to offer removals companies a aandard furniture van design at a 15% liscount could win Power Bodies an extra 500 orders.
The Essex firm was formed only four years ago by three former colleagues at a )odybuilding firm who decided to set up )n their own. It is also working with a thassis manufacturer on a sliding-floor, iouble-deck body and a kneeling trailer, hie to be launched next year.
The removals deal, made with British dissociation of Removers director Martin Rose, will allow the association to bulksuy a standard-spec design. This will give :he association's smaller members a :Fiance to buy a higher-quality body than :hey could normally afford, says sales lirector Bob Bell, who hopes the tie-up hill double Power Bodies' turnover.
The company, based at Rayleigh, near iouthend. will licence abound five regional bodybuilders to make the Jesign. -The condition is that they must )roduce on time. at the right price and vith the right quality," he says. Although nitial sales will be a trickle, he reckons hey could be worth up to £4 million in wo years. He is equally confident that he new double-decker, being built with Irransport and Trailer Engineering of Develand, will be a winner. Power has dready sold 12 double-deck bodies on ioynor chassis to Group 4, through fransfleet: Bell says that the new design las a more flexible moving floor and is an inprovement on that version.
"We looked at the market and there veren't many double-deck trailers with noving floors," he explains. Although he company considering a refrigerated [2.2-metre version it is more likely it will oncentrate on dry freight. Reefers make ip a very small part of its output.
Around 30% of its bodies are for the emovals industry, but it also builds lryfreight vans, curtainsiders, Lutons, mall tippers and flats. Its customers are plit 70/30 between dealers and rental or ;ontract-hire firms such as Transfleet, _ex, Avis and Kenning. However, it has old direct to Pickfords and NFC.
'Pick fords got us recognised in the 'emovals industry," says Bell.
The company, which employs 80, has ieen successful because it sticks to ielivery dates, he says. It offers four.,reek delivery times on most bodies, ilthough Bell finds that late chassis ielivery from dealers is a growing noblem that the deadline-senisitive )odybuilder can do little about. "Our iroduction director Peter Cooke's )roduction board gets altered two or hree times a day. He keeps it rolling," ays Bell. -God knows how he does it." rhe company keeps three ready-built rransit bodies in stock and aims to be ible to fit them for a customer — without iotice — in two hours.
It has cut costs by reducing the lumbers of skilled workers on the hopfloor and putting the emphasis on designs from its engineering department. In a region where it is often difficult to find experienced staff, it runs its own skills programme. Four of its drawing office staff, including the chief designer (who is still in his early twenties) started on the Youth Training Scheme.
Recent orders include a batch of 40 curtainsiders for Exel Logistics Newsflow. Power is hoping for further orders from the NFC subsidiary when it renews more of its trailer fleet this year. It has also supplied curtainsiders to Woolworth. again through NFC.
The company is in the mid to high price
range, but says it makes up for this in the attention and quality it gives to end users. -We encourage fleets and dealers to bring their customers to us," says Bell. "It cuts corners but it takes the responsibility from the middle man."
GOOD REPUTATION
Power will take in £3.5 million this year. It was founded by David Cleal, the former managing director of Giltsave in Southend. He bought bodybuilder Truck Development Company, which was in the hands of the receiver. Although it had a good reputation for reefers it had been doing poorly and had cut its staff to single figures, says Bell. Instead of continuing to make refrigerated bodies. Cleal and his colleagues took on six workers, changed the company name and moved into general bodybuilding. Peter Cooke, who also left Giltsave to launch the firm, thought it would be difficult to tempt skilled employees to a new and untried company.
"I had a reputation as a hard taskmaster," he admits, -But people like to be told what to do. They want to know who's boss. From the start we've always had plenty of applicants for jobs."
The company has since bought two more bodybuilding firms from the receiver. One, Unitruck, it took over for its equipment. The other is Ambassador Coachwork, a specialist horesebox manufacturer, which it still runs, making 10 to 12 bodies a year, priced at about £45,000 apiece. "We only wanted it for the premises until we saw what it did," says Bell. Each of the boxes is hand
made, with a living compartment and space for three animals. Although its new owners reckon to have tightened up on production methods, this is still a market where quality comes before speed of delivery.
Power Bodies is on the ever-growing waiting list for BS5750: it hopes to win approval by early next year. Earning the mark will bring external and internal benefits, says Bell. "It will expand our market;" he predicts. -In times to come, if you haven't BS5750, you'll be second choice. It helps within the company too. It will allow us to locate all the way
through in detail who does what, because someone has to sign for each stage of the production process. Staff are aware they can't cover anything and it makes them do a good job. It reduces our knockbacks."
Bell is cautious about the Single European Market: -We're not frightened of 1992, but I think there's enough business in the UK to keep us happy. That stretch of water will cost you a lot to transport bodies."
He points out that continental bodybuilding methods are very different from the UK's.
Everything they build is in kit form; we're more flexible," he says. "They tend to do standard modules but, we are looking at a bodybuilder in Denmark to market our horseboxes."
Another worrying aspect is losing control of parts of the company which are based abroad, Bell adds. "What's made us successful is our management team. Everyone talks to each other. We did look at starting in the Midlands, but you're looking at different guys doing different things and before you know it, you're going under. That's the grey area."
The recession is beginning to bite. Removals industry orders — hit by the slump in house sales— are down. This year, Power Bodies expects to sell 5% less than last year's 1,742 bodies. But a £1.25 million contract, which Bell says the company has an 80% chance of winning, could serve as a welcome early Christmas present.
0 by Murdo Morrison