Andover’s handover
Page 13
Page 14
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
After a management buyout last year, Andover Transport’s new owner Jason Horner reveals his plans for the company
Words : Hayley Pink
WHEN CM LAST caught up with Jason Horner in November 2010, he had been tempted back to the UK after a decade in Portugal to work for Andover Transport’s previous owner TrimTruk in 2008. And now, less than three years on, he owns the company – a fact that Horner still inds incredible. “I've gone from earning £500 a week to owning a £2.4m turnover company. How did that happen in a year?” he asks.
Working as transport manager at the Hampshire-based haulage irm, Horner launched a management buyout in October last year, with the process completed in February this year. And it’s been full-speed ahead ever since.
Under the previous owner, Andover Transport had embarked on a three year strategy to boost proit, expand its pallet business and win new customers. When asked how this strategy was working out, Horner laughs: “We’ve blown that to pieces, in every shape and form. We were turning over about £100k per month, now we’re in the region of £250k per month.” Probably the biggest driver is Andover’s success with its pallet business. Already signed up for a 10-year contract with pallet network Palletways to cover SO postcodes around Southampton, within a few weeks of taking the reins, Horner was presented with an unexpected opportunity. He explains: “Another haulage company, 303 Group, was running SP [Salisbury] postcodes, but got into dificulties.” Palletways asked Andover to cover the area on a caretaking basis while 303 went through administration. “So, within four to six weeks of taking over, I had more trucks and more freight than I could ever throw a stick at,” Horner says. Andover has now committed to Palletways for 10 years to cover the SP postcodes on a permanent basis.
Pallet perfect
The success with Palletways is ironic, as Horner had spoken out in the past about the threat of pallet networks being able to undercut hauliers. He says: “When pallet networks launched, the whole shape of the haulage industry changed. How could you get a pallet, back then, for £50 from Southampton to Scotland? It was impossible. ” However, on returning to the industry after a decade in Portugal, he was impressed with the progression of the pallet networks and their part in the haulage sector. “If it wasn’t for Palletways, I probably wouldn’t have taken the business on in this economic climate. Whatever else happens, the volumes will keep on coming from Palletways.
“The average volume when we took over was going to be about 140 pallets a night. We now do 240 on average, but this has been as high as 360.” Horner says membership of Palletways has also been an excellent opportunity to network with other hauliers at pallet conferences, and even to pick up general haulage work on a backhaul basis as a result. He says the pallet network has supported Andover, not just inancially, but helping the business to shape and set goals – “making sure we are still going to be here in ive years’ time” .
And sustainability is at the very heart of Horner’s direction for the business. Now responsible for the livelihoods of a 32-strong workforce, the new owner wants to make the company a great place to work and is looking into pensions and life insurance for employees.
“If I go and make irresponsible decisions and crash the company, there’ll be 32 people out of work,” adds Horner.
He was organising the company Christmas bash when CM arrived: paintballing in the daytime, followed by an evening event with fun presentations to reward staff. And loyalty is one word Horner uses to describe his workforce, who all transferred to his leadership under TUPE regulations. When it came to moving premises earlier this year, the staff all offered to come and help relocate the business for no payment.
It’s good to talk
Horner adds: “Having worked at many companies over the years, one of the things staff always complain about is that the boss is never interested. So, every day, between four and eight, I'll be out in the yard helping the drivers, talking to them, inding out how their day is going. Then, I'll go out there again as they start returning. Basically, so they can ofload on me and know I care about what they’re doing.” The new boss has been working on a long-term strategy for Andover Transport – Forward thinking for a sustainable future. So how does Horner plan to ensure the irm’s future is secure?
Not getting into price wars is a major strategy, he states. “We don’t want to chase the freight. We have our set of costs, we have our margins, we know what the fuel costs and that is our price. So for someone to halve our price, it’s just for the sake of doing it. It’s not sustainable.” A headache for all hauliers is the price of fuel. “UK-registered transport irms should get tax breaks on fuel used for road transport. This will help cashlow and drive forward business,” he says.
Andover Transport prides itself on a quality service. “Our European transport is second to none. We don’t do groupage work, putting pallet on top of pallet,” says Horner. “If we look after our customers, they keep coming back. They can ring me 24 hours a day. This doesn’t happen with the bigger companies. We are a family business. When you get too big, you can lose track of why you are here.”
When asked by CM to sum up the business in three words, Horner chooses “quality, sustainable, committed” , and with a dedicated workforce, lourishing pallet division and a focus on the long term, Andover Transport certainly lives up to those words. ■
FOR THE LATEST NEWS VISIT:
WWW.PoaftMMPoPt.Com