Exploring the homeland
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Best-known as an exporter of second-hand trucks on a truly epic scale — it ships out more than 1.500 annually — Market Weighton, East Yorkshire-based Britcom International is busy developing its presence in the domestic used market too.
"Although it's perhaps not as buoyant as some people who want to talk the job up may claim, the UK market is certainly better than it has been," says Adam Day, business development manager at Britcom International. "We retailed 180 used trucks here last year with many of the inquiries arriving via our website, and we're looking to increase that figure as British buyers become more aware of our presence."
No matter whether they are trading at home or on the other side of the world, many dealers are finding that an inability to obtain the vehicles they need is restricting their opportunities for growth. Day admits this is a challenge for Britcom too, but he is confident that it is one With long-established contacts with manufacturers, finance houses and major fleet operators thanks to its export activities, Britcom has plenty of sources of vehicles, he points out.
As a consequence, it is typically able to maintain a stock of around 300 to 350 trucks of all makes on its 14-acre site to satisfy both export and domestic demand.
"The key thing for us though is that anything we acquire has to have a comprehensive maintenance history if we're going to retail it here," he observes.
Does Britcom buy at auction?
"Rarely," he replies. "For us to stand around at an auction all day just to buy one or two vehicles to stick on the front of our site wouldn't really make sense given the volumes we handle, especially at an export level."
As far as the UK is concerned, Day typically retails trucks up to four and five years old. He does not have a fixed policy of refusing to retail older vehicles, however.
"Mileage can be much more of a key than age," he observe& "These days tractor units typically cover from 120,000km to 150,000km annually on average — some, of course, do considerably more — so buyers usually try to look for something that has done slightly less."
Meanwhile, high new truck prices are prompting larger UK operators who might otherwise have bought new to look at acquiring late-registered used instead.
Britcom is happy to help. says Day, and he has seen an increase in the number of this type of enquiries over the past year. "I've done one or two deals for several vehicles with biggish firms as a consequence," he says. "I think the sheer size of our operation gives them the confidence to deal with us."
Britcom group's annual turnover is more than £.34m.
Tractor units make up the majority of the company's British volume, generally with 420hp to 430hp on tap. "There doesn't appear to be much of a demand for much more horsepower than that," he says.
"Customers usually want big cabs too, although that doesn't seem to be quite as important to them as it once Higher standards set by export markets in recent years mean that there is increasingly less difference in terms of age, mileage and condition between trucks sold by Britcom in Britain and those sent overseas, says Day. "Exporters will take vehicles dated as recently as 2006, so we've got more and more trucks that could go into either market," he says.
Some overseas buyers are still willing to take older vehicles that would not be quite so appealing to UK buyers however. As a consequence he has a ready outlet for part-exchanges.
"This means that we can almost always underwrite them ourselves," he says. "We don't have to get someone else to do it."
was." Automated boxes are more readily accepted by them than they once were, says Day. "Operators have got more used to them and increasingly realise the benefits," he says. "I still get customers who are adamant that they must have a manual box I had one just the other week but once they try an auto they tend to he converted."
While tractors dominate, the potential for rigid sales is not being ignored. Day is detecting increased demand for multi-wheeler tippers; evidence perhaps that the construction industry is picking up.
Prices being realised by second-hand trucks in the UK have stabilised. he says. and are now hardening:they will probably rise further during the rest of this year, he believes, although at present it is difficult to predict how far they will go up.
"What we try to do though is concentrate more on the quality of the product we retail rather than the price." he says. -We carefully check and road test every vehicle before we attempt to retail it, any damage and significant defects are put right and everything we retail carries a three-month drivetrain warranty."
At about 20 minutes drive from the M62, Britcom has a bodyshop on site and can re-spray a truck should the customer require it. Among other activities, its in-house engineering workshop can extend and reduce wheelbase& fit tag axles and turn tractor units into rigid& One key questions is whether customers can get the funds they need to acquire trucks in the wake of the credit crunch'?
"We've had one or two over the past year who have faced problems as I guess all dealers have, hut we can usually help them arrange something," he says "We've got good contacts with a variety of finance providers; and we're getting more inquiries about funding." •