Happy endings
Page 17
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ow here's a rare thing.a happy, optimistic haulier who's glad to be his own boss. Meet Michael Maguire, a determined sort of chap who has triumphed over the odds. Back in 1990 he was a driver with WI Macre, but heart trouble put him e the road, and out of a job. "The specialists said I'd never drive again," he recalls But the specialists were proved wrong
Cheltenham-based Maguire fought back, regained his health and his licence, bought a beat-up Renault Trafic van with a vely Poorly engine, and started doing some delivery work, setting up an operation called Triple 9.
Hard work and dedication to customer service has led to expansion. Another van, a Daf 1900, and a Volvo 1,16 have joined the strength along the way,
and his latest acquisition is an ERF EC11.38 eight-wheeler powered by a 37.5hp Cummins engine. It's equipped with a bulk blower body courtesy of Bridge Bodies, and he using it to deliver animal feed on behalf of one of his customers, Lys Mill Animal Feeds.
So does he regret his forced move into running his own business? Does he long for the days when he was an employee, and the gurnor did all the worrying? Not a bit of it.
"I'm glad [became my own boss," he Mlles. "The margins are tight, but there's a thrill to it all Sure, there are a lot of headaches, hut! feel a sense of achievement" The Hawk hasn't heard that sort of chipper talk since he was a nestling .Good on yer, MichaeL