Andrew Newport is enthusiastic about his refurbished office, sited at
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the back of his workshop. He has every right to be. The nerve centre of his Penzance haulage empire cost a princely .C30 to furnish, The desk is made out of an old tea chest, the carpet, chair and windows came from a skip and a coat of paint added the finishing touch.
Then there is the administrative system— a mobile phone, a pocket calculator and a ruled notebook for maintaining the accounts. "We manage," he beams proudly.
Newport expounds the firm's policies: "We buy-British, we buy second-hand, we recycle and we refurbish the vehicles every so often?'
The fleet lines up tidily for CM's photographer—an S-reg Bedford TK, an Areg Bedford TL, an ERF and a Seddon Atkinson. Another Bedford and a Seddon Atkinson are being prepared for service, although there may not be anything for them
to do just yet, If I see a vehicle that could be useful to me, I buy it. I don't always put them on the road at the time hut when you are looking for a vehicle you can never find one" explains Newport.
Of his chosen marques he says they are simple, basic and reliable. Scrapyards are full of them so spares come cheap. Seddon Atkinson main dealer Panel Commercials at Launceston provides a useful back-up service for spares. Newport's artics rim at 28 tonnes gross and the Bedfords at 10 tonnes and 12.5 tonnes: "We do a lot of work to the Scilly Isles and small lorries are handy on the quay" Buying used vehicles forces down costs: "I can't make a living with new vehicles and lots of expensive kit around. I've got no hp and no overdraft—everything is paid for," he says. The vehicles are serviced regularly—the artics every 10,000km and the I3edfords every 8,000km.
But what does the firm actually carry? "Literally anything!" says Newport. A weekly run to London carries small groupage consignments—a mix of furniture, seashells for export, fancy goods, engineering equipment, building supplies. The firm also does removals and regularly backloads coffee into Cornwall with an increase in the summer months as tourists arrive. 'There's more goods coming into the county than going out," says Newport, "Loading the lorries away from here is the clever bit."
With so much industry gone it is undoubtedly hard work to keep the vehicles busy. "There's only tourism left and there's not much haulage in that," reasons Newport.
He looks gloomy for a moment. "The future of the business is bleak. The bottom line is that the manufacturing base has gone out of the county. We're becoming a nation of consultants and supermarkets. You don't see raw materials being moved."
He shakes off the dark cloud, reflecting that his son Paul will soon join the business after a course in mechanical engineering. Then there is the resilient spirit among the drivers. "If we're idle for a couple of days we'll go mob-handed into the garage and paint the vehicles. Our strong point is that we don't spend money where we don't need to We're tight buggers. It's easy to make money when there's plenty of work but you just watch the money disappear when there isn't any work"