! f you were based in Sunbury on-Thames, with a
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back ground in aerospace engineering and a van with spare capacity, it would seem natural to look for work at Heathrow Airport. So, back in 1978, when Chris Hawkins bought a Luton Transit van to carry his disco equipment from gig to gig, he was drawn towards the air-freight business when he needed to make extra cash. The result is Hawkins Freight Services.
"We used to do flowers, fruit and vegetables to the London markets, or samples of goods from the airport to Marks 8z. Spencer's head office in the centre of London," he says. "The main products we do now are computers and electronics, cosmetics and personal effects arriving at Heathrow."
One of the company's early breaks saw it involved in distribufion business for cigarette manufacturers, but the nature of the security was such that Hawkins' vehicles were unmarked. "It was a period of low-profile growth,' Hawkins explains.
Since then the fleet has grown to 2z, and the company has increased the range of specialist transport services it provides.
We tend to move out-of-gauge freight; it can be any size. If you have a specialised project, we can handle it," says Hawkins. "We've brought in palm trees and sand from the desert and taken them back again. We handle computer equipment. Often we have to go air-side on the airport to meet prominent families from the Arab Emirates at their private planes and collect their personal effects: they are quite security-conscious."
The training element is important, especially where security is concerned—as well as the concern for the load that's going on. there's the concern about the bombs that might go off! At the same time there is the time sensitivity involved. Customers outside the air-freight industry want goods delivered yesterday: in this business, they want them delivered before take-off.
"If it's off an aeroplane, you can be sure somebody has paid a lot of money to get it here and wants it in a hurry," says Hawkins. "It means we have to respond very quickly, and we can't hang around for other collections to make up the load."
HFS vehicles will often be expected to run at less than full weight capacity: they cube out before they weigh out. There's also a lot of investment in specialised equipment (and insurance, if the vehicles have to go air-side) to handle the goods. For example, HFS runs three trailers equipped with Hydra Roll floors to accommodate the needs of air-freight pallets coming off the planes.
The need to make greater margins to cover the cost of these investments in equipment and additional vehicles is a factor that makes air freight a very attractive business sector. This makes it very competitive—which tends to depress rates.
Other drawbacks of operating near to the airport include a shortage of drivers and traffic congestion. These are both nationwide problems, of course, but the shortage is particularly acute in this area, and the stretch of the M4 from Heathrow to London is one of the busiest roads in Europe. For a 09:oohrs delivery in the centre of
London—less than 15 miles away—HFS vehicles will rarely set off after o6:3ohrs.
The high business rates and the cost of renting premises can also hinder expansion. "To house a 'bad-neighbour' industry like a haulage business, as you get closer to the airport. you could be paying 13-145t2 more than if you were relocating io miles away," says Hawkins. "On the airport itself you can be quoted ii6-ii711' just for warehousing. Move a few miles away, and you are coming down to L819. There is also a shortage of CV parking space in and around the airport, but that is changing with new development. The trouble is, the new development brings higher rates."
HFS knows all about this. At the end of next month it will move to a new site with room for its 22 vehicles and about 2,800mz of warehousing space. Given the price and tough competition, Hawkins is remaining tight-lipped about the new location.