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The third generation is at the controls of family firm Arthur Spriggs & Sons, and is intent on leaving it in great shape
Words: Colin Barnett / Images: Tom Cunningham The name Arthur Spriggs & Sons sounds like it could have come from the pages of a Dickens novel, but in fact, the company is nowhere near that old, founded a whole 48 years after the great writer’s death. Arthur Spriggs set up his haulage business in 1918, at the start of that defining period after the First World War that saw the foundation of today’s road transport industry.
Arthur’s operation started in Rushden, Northants, which is still one of Spriggs’ two bases. There was a third near Eastbourne in East Sussex, but this closed four years ago with the collapse of the site owner’s business. It is the newest depot, a couple of minutes off the M5 at Tewkesbury, that we visit. The two depots operate autonomously but in co-operation, sharing part loads, for example. Arthur’s son Derek eventually took over the reins, and it’s Derek’s son, Chris, the youngest of five brothers, who leads the Tewkesbury operation today. We begin to realise we are in the presence of an unconventional management structure when we meet the other two leading figures on the site. Asked for their job titles, Chris Hodgson and David Harris look a bit uncomfortable before revealing that the firm doesn’t really go in for formal titles, but broadly speaking, Hodgson looks after development of the business, especially the newest project, which we will come to shortly, while Harris oversees operations. It’s clear that the management team know each other well and have considerable mutual respect.
Driver turnover
A good indicator of a happy company is the rate of driver turnover, and most drivers have been with Spriggs for at least 10 years and some as long as 40. Between the three managers, they can’t recall one driver leaving for a better job, and when one eventually hangs up his hi-vis jacket, there’s a 50-strong waiting list of new recruits. Harris says: “It’s the drivers who make me look good.” Wherever possible, there’s a “one driver, one truck” policy, although a few agency drivers are employed to cover the August peak.
On some of the collection and delivery operations, trucks are double-shifted, but with the same two drivers. The Tewkesbury fleet totals 85 vehicles, including 50 artics with 65 trailers and six 7.5-tonners – almost 100% Mercedes-Benz – and every one is washed each time it leaves the yard. Even the yard shunter and Scammell wrecker gleam.
Training of the 60 drivers on-site, including Driver CPC, is mostly carried out in-house, although maximum advantage is taken of the 35 hours of training that accompanies each new Mercedes.
Arthur Spriggs’ sphere of operation is described as general haulage in the UK and Ireland. The move to Tewkesbury was initially on the back of one contract, with local firm Duraflex, which specialises in the manufacture of PVCu doors and window. Duraflex remains a major part of the Spriggs portfolio, providing between 12 and 20 loads each day. Around 40% of the fleet work is in customer livery, with the remainder in the traditional blue, red and white colours.
Company strategy
Company strategy is to provide high service levels at a middle-of-the-road cost. Chris Spriggs believes “anyone can get quick money, but with no repeat business” . Spriggs doesn’t employ a sales team, nor does it use voicemail. The managers are trusted to make decisions, even if they aren’t always the right one. All assets, including property and vehicles, are bought and paid for. When trading conditions get tougher, Chris Spriggs says: “Ownership provides the motivation to keep the asset working.” The whole fleet is tracked by a Masternaut telematics system, principally to improve customer service and to reduce empty running. Customers get an automated text message when the truck is 10 minutes away from the delivery point. One customer used to employ three staff to chase its transport operation, but has now been able to transfer two of them to sales, which have increased 40% so far this year.
Central to keeping the fleet moving is Spriggs’ membership of the Fortec pallet network, supplying 230-240 pallets a night into the network’s hub at Watford Gap. The firm is the holder of an award given by the membership for the company that goes the extra mile. This year, it has its eyes on the award for the largest input to the network, Spriggs currently lies in second or third place.
For Chris Spriggs, the objective is to disprove the theory that the third generation is the one that destroys a family business. He’d rather provide a viable inheritance for the next generation, but insists they’ll need to prove themselves in the outside world first. We leave Tewkesbury with the feeling that here is a firm that knows what it wants to be: small enough to care about its customers and offering good, old-fashioned service. Highly self-critical, Arthur Spriggs & Sons looks set to join that exclusive group of centenarian hauliers in just over five years’ time. n