Bold expansion is the Wincanton wav
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As the recession worsened and traffic slackened, this Unigate subsidiary decidec to spend f41/2m on a new service centre in the Midlands. Tim Blakemore went to see how such confidence could be justified
PLAY THE word association game with a mixed group of transport managers and the chances are that the response to "Wincanton" would be "bulk haulage."
If there was a Wincanton manager present he would probably grimace as the words were spoken; not because his company is no longer involved with bulk transport — that it most certainly is — but because he would like there to be greater awareness of how much more extensive the group's activities are nowadays.
The Wincanton Group (to be renamed the Wincanton Transport Group from April 1 this year) is a subsididary of Unigate, and takes its name from the town in Somerset where the head office is still located.
In 1927, two years after its formation, the company's only other site was at Sherbourne in Dorset and its activities were limited to maintaining dairy equipment and carrying liquid milk no further than London.
Now there are 49 Wincanton Group sites in the UK and to describe its range of activities as having widened considerably would be an under-statement.
There are three main trading groups within the parent group: Wincanton Transport, Wincanton Garages, and Wincanton Engineering and each of these may be broken down further into sub-divisions and individual companies, including Wincanton Vehicle Rentals, Unigate Commercial Contracts, Wincanton Workshops, Wincanton Contracts and Hamilton Cole (Sussex), the latter a company which specialises in electrical work for fuel stations.
The size of the organisation is put into perspective when you know that the commercial vehicle contract hire and rental sections currently own around 2,500 vehicles (it was Wincanton that took over Hertz's long-term contract vehicles last year) and its car hire section has a fleet of over 5,000 vehicles.
A prime example of the way the group's policy of maximum growth and diversification within the transport field has developed, particularly since David Yeomans took over as managing director in May 1982
(he was previously md o Wincanton Trasnport), is it Darlaston workshops. Thi 45,000 sq ft. building on a 101/: acre site was the brainchild c Yeornans, encouraged an aided in its design by Mik Hughes, Wincanton Transport' chief engineer.
The sheer size of this Wes Midlands maintenance ani repair centre is impressive bu even more so are its moden facilities, which do indeed, a. Wincanton proudly claims "Compare with any in Westen Europe."
Equally impressive is the wal
:hat throughput of work at )arlaston has grown in line with Nincanton's remarkably 3mbitious plan. In March 1981 when the Darlaston Workshops First became operational there were 11 men in the workshop, 54 drivers and 13 management and Idministrative staff. Today these gaff figures are, respectively, 82, 100, and 20.
Designed to be capable of oroviding complete Tiaintenance facilities for as Tiany as 1,200 items of rolling ;tock, the Darlaston centre is r:urrently maintaining 700 to 800.
The mat:lager here, Keith England, is confident that the vowth of business will continue 3nd that 140, the planned 'ceiling," will eventually be amployed in the workshop. In an area of the country where job losses are occurring with depressing frequency that is an uncommonly optimistic note Indeed.
But Wincanton is no charitable organisation and the Darlaston workshop has to remain profitable if it is to survive, never mind expand.
So why did Wincanton decide to spend £41/2 million on a wholly new maintenance centre in 1981? After all, the recession was deepening, traffic was scarce, numerous small haulage companies were going out of business and the group already had two maintenance facilities in the Midlands which, although they were ageing could presumably have been modernised.
It is typical of the bold approach of the group's present management that they discontinued the more cautious options, arguing that the difficult trading conditions were in themselves a good reason for operating a top-class maintenance centre at "the crossroads of the country."
Utilisation of vehicles was becoming increasingly important, nowhere more so than in bulk tanker fleets where a single tractive unit semi-trailer combination might have a capital value of £50,000; and the corollary of that is that efficient maintenance with a minimum of downtime becomes vital.
This is what Wincanton aims to provide at Darlaston, not just for its own vehicles but for anyone who is prepared to pay for the service.
Eight and a half acres of the site are laid with reinforced concrete. There are three main buildings, two housing the workshops and the third the restaurant and transport administration offices.
There are 16 workshop bays in the mechanical workshop, eight with pits, and each bay is 21.3m (70ft) long and 4.6m (1 5ft) wide. This section also performs annual inspection preparations, servicing, major overhauls and "special products" (which currently includes Lucas Kienzle tachograph installation and calibration, and Tecalemit automatic chassis lubrication fitment).
The bodyshop has nine bays 18.3m (60ft) x 4.6m (15ft) and there are three painting
preparation bays ar d three spray/bake booths — Jne 7.9m (26ft) long, one 14.3m (4Th) and one 15.2m (50ft).
Keith Eagland's staff will repair any tank or dry freight body and are happy to tackle mild steel, stainless steel or aluminium welding.
There are two bays equipped with steam and high-pressure water cleaners, used mainly for chassis cleaning before annual inspections, and a comprehensively-equipped and much-used internal tank cleaning and degassing bay with four CP "Fury" cleaning heads. Wincanton can therefore offer the full range of tank cleaning processes, from cold water wash to paraffin boil.
Darlaston's rolling-road braketester is outside, at one end of the workshop building below what appears to be a disproportionately large canopy. But this is no planner's miscalculation for the braketesting bay doubles as an area where dnagerous loads or food products may be safely transferred from one vehicle to another, with both remaining under cover.
Then there are the two recovery vehicles and a recentlyconverted mobile workshop
which together provide a 2, hour breakdown and recovei service.
You will never find the gatE locked at Darlaston (though yo will need to have a legitimal reason for entry to get past th security guards) but th workshop itself is closed from 1 pm to 6 am.
Keith Eagland is justifiabl proud of the facilities hi workshop staff enjoy. Apai from the restaurant and loung which all the staff share, eac workshop operative has his ow locker and there is a spacioth well-maintained changing roor with showers.
Any potential Wincanto customer would be impresse by a visit to the Darlasto workshops, but how could an operator intending to use th facilities be sure that Wincanto vehicles would not tak precedence over his own?
I put that question to Keitl Eagland and his reply wa forceful and unequivocal. "Ther is no such thing as an 'outsidE or 'inside' customer here," hl said. "They are all customers Darlaston Workshops is a profi centre with virtual autonom, from other Wincanton divisions I will take on anything that w, can do properly, provided i gives me a black figure."
To underline his point, hi revealed that he was competirq with other companies for thi maintenance contract for a flee of 40-plus Wincanton chillec distribution vehicles based a Uttoxeter. Desipite his quotatior being "in house," he neithe expected nor would receive an favourable consideration. I have no doubt that the best workshor will win.