AT THE HEART OF THE ROAD TRANSPORT INDUSTRY.

Call our Sales Team on 0208 912 2120

It is becoming essential for expanding, entrepreneurial businesses to offer a 'one-stop shop', and Junction 6 Commercials is a perfect

5th April 2007, Page 72
5th April 2007
Page 72
Page 73
Page 72, 5th April 2007 — It is becoming essential for expanding, entrepreneurial businesses to offer a 'one-stop shop', and Junction 6 Commercials is a perfect
Close
Noticed an error?
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.

Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

example. Kevin Swallow reports.

In the shadow of Villa Park in Aston, Birmingham sits an office displaying a sign for unction 6 Commercials.To the left s a bodyshop; to the right is a yard idled with rental vehicles, trucks or sale and a 40-tonner with the :urtains drawn back. Pallets of two-litre Morrisons cider bottles are being lifted off by a competent and quick forklift driver.

It looks like several companies have sprung up on one site, and to a degree that is true— but behind the trucks lined up in the yard is the sign that pulls everything together: Thomas's Vehicle Solutions.

Junction 6 Commercials' Nigel Ball is joined by sales manager Gavin Keith, and it's down to business. "Stock is from [Thomas's Vehicle Solutionsl own rental fleet. We put a couple on the front [to sell] and got a bit of money in from there, so no borrowing was involved," Bali says.

It was pure opportunism. "There was a bit of a market because in Birmingham there weren't many dealers selling run-of-the-mill stuff — there were the main dealers but they can outprice themselves."

Just then managing director SteveThomas, the competent and quick forklift driver, arrives and explains the background.Thirtynine years ago Thomas's Vehicle Solutions was a haulage company, Thomas'sTransport, run by Steve's parents Alan andTeresaThomas. When Steve and Nigel joined it in 1986, they took one vehicle off the fleet and rented it out —starting an offshoot that would eventually eclipse the haulage side. Later Steve's sister Julie Atkinson also joined; she is now group secretary.

Time to diversify

"We got work with local companies including big companies such as Hays — fast delivery stuff running Mercedes-Benz then Renault vehicles. By 2000 we had 1,200 vehicles. We grew massively on the backs of Wincanton, Excel, Hays and companies like that. It was a time when they didn't want to own any assets,"Thomas says.

But bigger doesn't always mean better and the company decided to diversify "We cut the rental fleet down to do other things: bodyshop, vehicle sales.We moved away from the big deals— we prefer the smaller stuff with two vehicles over there, four down the road.The group is making four times the money now than when it was four times bigger," saysThomas.

In March 2004,Junction 6 Commercials was born; the following year,Thotnas's Vehicle Solutions acquired Summerdale Truck Bodies. Sununerdale added another string to Thomas's bow and slashed costs by doing work for the rental fleet.Taking the step towards becoming a one-stop shop reduced overheads, time issues and labour."We've stopped taking vehicles all over the country for bodywork; now we don't have to spend any money apart from on acquiring the vehicle," he says.

Summerdale also brought work in as local dealers used it for their bodywork and conversions.

"A lot of our customers don't know what else we do, even though they've worked with us for many years. It means we are now a real one-stop shop: rent, buy, have a truck painted, have a new body on it, transport; there's nothing we don't door can't supply," he adds.

This is coupled with a proactive buying process."We buy from a lot of fleets who contract hire off us,' says Keith. "If we replace their lorries, we'll buy them.The last deal we did started with an inquiry for rental, which, after a chat, turned into contract hire."

Part exchange Thomas picks up the story: "We bought Daf trucks and they went into the bodyshop.Then we delivered them in part-exchange and the part-ex vehicles were sold by Junction 6. So all parts of the business were involved and made money from it." "What the customer got was to speak to just one person," says Kei th. "At the end of that contract the cycle will go again.We'll see those vehicles twice over before they bite the dust. As a company we get more bites at the cherry."

Which brings us back to Junction 6 Commercials. It is dependent on rental stock, but with digital tachographs, Euro-4/5 and AdBlue, the replacement process has slowed to make sure the rental fleet can accommodate customers.

-Very little is being deflected from Thomas's fleet at the moment so we're finding it difficult to keep stock levels up," says Ball. "If you have a decent late-year Euro-3 vehicle with the right spec and good mileage, you can ask top money for it really as there's nothing out there."

This is confirmed by the customers coming through the doors wanting to hire. "They don't want Euro-4 and digital tachographs And by not going this route, we've gained business as other companies have bitten the bullet.The operators who went to them couldn't use their vehicles," says Thomas.

"We keep a lot of older vehicles which are fully paid for; if they are parked up in the yard they aren't costing us anything. [But] if everything is brand new, there's a cost attached to it."

By September the emphasis wil be on new Euro-4/5 stock ready fo the Christmas rush.This will mean extra work for the bodyshop as more operators trade in their 7.5tonners for heavier vehicles.

"A lot of people are going to 12 tonners [as the supply of drivers with grandfather rights to drive 7.5-tonners dwindles]; dealers are receiving inquiries for bigger vehicles, the same licence, a bit of dif ference in cost and better payloaC [And] 26-tonners are popular once you persuade an operator of their benefits."

"Tractor units come to the end of their life at four to five years old; we stretch them,add a tag axle and put them in Junction 6 and have a body built," says Thornas."Take a tractor unit which would sell for £8-10,000 on a 52-reg;stretch it, add an axle, and you're talking £30,000.

"We have a wealth of experience, and one-stop shop is what we do.The biggest thing is getting our customers to know what we do." •


comments powered by Disqus