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Danger from low margins
Page 38
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I READ your Editorial in CM March 16, with great interest and find myself in complete agreement with your views. The experience of my company is that many small and even medium sized firms have a complete lack of management expertise and as a result are operating inefficiently and on very low margins. As you pointed out, the danger of these firms going out of business could be disastrous to the industry as a whole.
Ayton Transport Consultants Ltd is a small company which I set up just over a year ago, one of the objectives being to try to provide help to this kind of firm. Up to now other consultancy work has prevented us from doing much work in this area and limited resources make it difficult to allocate the necessary time. I wonder whether there is any way in which Commercial Motor might be interested in a joint venture or supporting A.T.C. Ltd in establishing courses specifically aimed at providing basic management skills to people in the transport industry. In addition I am keen to devise and market a simple control package which would at least enable the small company to identify the most important costs.
M. J. A. MUTTER, Ayton Transport Consultants Stokesley, Middlesbrough.