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Ringing in success
Page 22
Page 23
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Trailer rental is not the easiest business to be in at the moment, but Bell Trailers is enjoying growth by focusing on customer service and support.
Words: Roanna Avison I Images: Tom Cunningham FROM SMALL ACORNS, big oak trees grow. And this saying could very well be used to describe Bell Trailer Rental. The company has gone from having a couple of hundred trailers on its books to 1,400 and, according to owner and managing director Michael Bell, all the growth has been organic.
The company also still has its trailer sales business, which Bell says is a strong part of the operation.
To begin the expansion process. Bell and director Tom Abernethy spent time developing a network of service agents across the country. "We didn't want to just go out and sell the concept of trailer rental when we didn't have the infrastructure in place to look after the trailers," Abernethy says.
A rental contract with Bell Trailers covers all the maintenance costs and includes reminders of when things such as annual tests are due, so the company needed to get the back end of the system in place before starting out.
"We understand that a customer wants to deliver goods from A to B, not get involved in the servicing of trailers." Abernethy says.
-We have a good team of operations staff who chase customers to make sure their trailers are serviced and tested at the right time. We also give the customer a sheet at the end of each month telling them what's due the following month."
To achieve this, Bell Trailers uses a tailor-made rental management software system that can track up to 10,000 assets, giving the company plenty of scope for further expansion.
Who you know
When Abernethy joined Bell, he had a number of customer contacts from his stints at TIP and BRS and many of them stepped over to Bell Trailers. "A lot of them are still with us today," he reveals.
He adds that services and support are what matter most to customers. "Prices are important, but if we cannot give customers the right services, that adds costs to the unit."
The company originally used Boalloy to build the trailers, but now works with SDC. However. Bell Trailers does not just source standard vehicles. Abernethy explains that his team works with customers to understand their operations and work out how trailers are getting damaged.
"We then try to adapt the trailers we build for them to suit their needs. If trailers arc built to last, it will save customers money and downtime in the long run."
Bell adds that the company preorders everything up to a year in advance. "We have slots and pull them off as and when required.
"Because we have short lead times, we have picked up customers."
However. Abernethy says it is rare to walk into a new customer and have them simply sign up long-term. "This business is very much based on personal relationships and trust, so more often than not, we will sign a shortterm contract for a small number of trailers initially." While Bell Trailers may be a smaller operation than many of the large national trailer rental companies, its customers range from owner-operators up to multinational companies.
Abernethy adds: "We have some customers that started with us with two or three trailers, but now have 15 to 20. That's where a lot of our organic growth has come from."
About 60% of its trailers are out on long-term rental contracts of up to seven years. At the end of that, customers can renew the contract and have the option to replace their rented trailer fleet The firm will expand its service agent network if it takes on a customer in a new region, with the aim of having two or three agents to service any customer. Bell adds: "We offer nationwide 24/7 service throughout the UK."
However, the only area aside from the North-West where Bell has its own staff is the North-East, but this is a service centre and customers either collect trailers direct from the manufacturer or from Bell's purpose-built 5.6-acre site in Nelson.
Bell designed the building and maintenance bays himself, laying out the yard in such a way that drivers do not have to wander round it trying to find the trailer they are due to pick up.
"This happens at other trailer rental
Some 22 years ago, Michael Bell started a buying and selling operation at a different site on the same Larneshaye Industrial Estate in Nelson that the current operation is based at.
In 1992 he began a rental operation, which he has since grown organically.
In 1996 he was joined by Tom Abernethy, who had a lot of experience in the trailer rental market. Abernethy worked at TIP for 11 years, starting in the workshop and rising through the ranks to operations manager. He then joined BRS to run its trailer rental business in the UK and worked there for five years. Bell and Abernethy had met during Abernethy's time at TIP, but in 1996 Bell walked into Abernethy's office at BRS. The pair got chatting and as a result Abernethy joined Belt as he started to build the trailer rental business.
"At the time I was dealing with 2,500 to 3,000 trailers and then I moved to Bell Trailer Rental, where we had a couple of hundred trailers. But I could see the potential," Abernethy says. "I had worked for the big nationals and saw the opportunity to grow."
www.belltrailers.co.uk companies; and when there arc 500 or so trailers parked up, that can take up a fair amount of the driver's time," Abernethy says.
"Here they drive through the gate, go to the driver's reception, sort out the paperwork, then go outside and find the trailer, which will be in the ready line outside. They can hitch up and be on their way in a matter of minutes."
The workforce
The company employs 17 staff, including fitters and workshop staff, admin and finance, operations and fleet service engineers.
The fleet service engineers operate in the North-West and North-East, and will go out in vans to trailers at the roadside that are in need of repair. Those in other areas can call on the service agents and Bell Trailers has a relationship with ATS to provide tyre support.
Despite the company's growth, like everyone else in the market at present things have been tough for Bell Trailers. Abernethy says: No one wants to commit to long-term contracts."
Bell adds that it means the company cannot really plan for the future because of the uncertainty of fuel prices and the credit crunch.
To ensure the company is not affected too much by the state of the economy, Bell Trailers does not have more than 10% of its fleet with any one customer. "It spreads the risk," Bell concludes. II