ONE-MAN FIRM EXPECTS £300,000 TURNOVER BOOST IN A YEAR
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REFORE Yorkshire deputy LA Mr. Maxwell
Gosnay at Sheffield last week. E. W. Ambrose and Co. (E. W. Ambrose), Chesterfield, sought a B-licence variation to add a 7+-ton artic—tractive unit 3; tons, trailer 4 tons—and a 13+-ton artic—tractive unit 5; tons, trailer 8+ tons—both low-loaders, conditioned "building and civil engineering equipment within a radius of 50 miles of Chesterfield PO".
The objectors were BRS (Pickfords), represented by Mr. J. W. Bosomworth, and Henry Matthews and Sons Ltd. and Frank Phillips (Haulage) Ltd., represented by Mr. A. Flavell. Objections by Elliotts (Hauliers) Ltd. and Myatts Transport Ltd., were not pursued.
Ambrose, an excavation, demolition and plant hire contractor, is the holder of a B licence for 33 vehicles conditioned "excavated and filling materials to and from building sites, road and civil engineering works within a radius of 50 miles of Chesterfield PO, for delivery within a radius of 15 miles of site".
For• Ambrose, Mr. Richard Yorke said the vehicles applied for were operated under C licence. To meet business expansion Ambrose would in the near future be applying for 20 more vehicles on B licence. New plant to the value of' £150,000 was on order and whatever the outcome of this application Ambrose would acquire a third low-loader.
Present work on the two C-licensed lowloaders was not evenly spread and the spare capacity could be employed by others—the low-loader demand in the Chesterfield area exceeded the supply. There was more plant and machinery in that area than in Sheffield and objectors Pickfords. Matthews and Phillips were based 10 miles distant with Myatt 25 miles and Elliott 55 miles away.
Mr. E. W. Ambrose said his was a one-man business started 10 years ago. It was not yet a limited company. He had 95 employees and a turnover of £450,000, which he anticipated would be £750,000 next year. Construction in the district was increasing and he was turning work away.
Mr. J. F. Potts, of Pickfords' Sheffield depot, submitted availability schedules of low-loaders at depots within 60 miles, saying the availability at Sheffield could cope with the requirements of customer witnesses. In answer to criticism that Pickfords did not go out for work, Mr. Potts said he would be surprised if plant hire operators did not know of them. Press advertisements appeared every six months. He could not understand how witnesses had come to regard BRS and Pickfords as one and the same.
Cross-examined, he could not say if any of the supporting customers had been approached by Pickfords' commercial representatives, which led Mr. Yorke to suggest that throughout 1966 not one customer had been canvassed.
The application was refused.