Moving Matters

In this episode Paul Fox, Managing Director of Fox Group (Moving & Storage) Ltd discusses that his father Roy (formerly a Pickfords man) started the company in 1971 (and this year celebrate their 50th year anniversary) when he had an opportunity to purchase a small valley’s company.

We discover that after 8/9 years Paul’s father had built the company into Fox The Mover building a couple of warehouses along the way. Paul joined the company working weekends and school holidays to fund his motorcycle habit and started fulltime at the age of 16, starting as a porter and in the garage, and at the young age of 18 through the RTITB (Road Transport Industry Training Board) gained his HGV licence. Before turning 20 Paul was shipped off to run the Cardiff branch (William Flay Removals) under the guidance of Stuart Fitton.

We discuss that when Roy took on the BAR Presidency in 1984, Paul (aged 23) was transferred to run the head office in Cwmbran, which consisted approximately of 8 trucks on removals and 8 trucks on distribution.

We discover that Roy, together with John Court, Mike Banks, Mike Devereux and a few others formed a co-operative called Britannia Movers International, which was based upon American Van Lines, but Roy left, amicably, in 1986. In 1987 The Pantechnicon (established 1830) was purchased but was an absolute disaster which nearly cost their own business.

We discuss that today Fox Group turnover approximately £10m, 40-50 trucks, 120 staff and 14 business units.

We discover Paul’s challenges have been the turmoil years after buying The Pantechnicon, the recession in 1992, the subprime mortgage crisis in 2007, and of course Covid.

We discuss that the one thing Paul would change from his past would be to get an education, however this is not a regret but merely an observation.

We discover Paul has several highpoints of being within the industry, BAR (which has been Paul’s university from an educational point of view), following in his father’s footsteps and taking up Presidency in 2004, eventually getting all the shares of the company and becoming the owner, and building new & refurbishing old premises.

We discuss the one thing Paul would change within the industry is yet again 3.5 tonne vans as it is a low entry into the industry, but that may be changing with European Union legislation insisting that vehicles over 2.5 tonne are registered on your operators licence.

We discover that the advice Paul would give to himself starting out in the industry again would be to work smarter not harder.

We discuss where Paul sees himself and the industry in the next 5 years, for himself he does not see himself retiring, even though his father retired at 60, and industry wise he does hope that 3.5 tonne regulation is enforced, but also believes it is up to the younger generation to be professional and develop their businesses, perhaps becoming better salesmen.

We discover that outside of the industry Paul does try to discipline himself and switch off, and is a frustrated sportsman participating in long distance running, cycling and triathlons! And living in a barn conversion with a couple of fields there is always something for Paul to be doing.

And as always we end Moving Matters with three funny moving stories, one involving a piano, one involving a bicycle during an institute study tour to Frankfurt, and one involving Mike Devereux and a minibar!

Enjoy!

Links to Fox Group (Moving & Storage) Ltd:

Special Guest: Paul Fox.

In this episode David Trenchard, Chairman of Britannia Leatherbarrows discusses that he may have been born in a tea chest in 1946! David joined the Trenchard’s family business when he was 16, which was started by his grandfather.

We discover that today’s company is Leatherbarrows (Britannia Leatherbarrows to be exact), which David and wife Diane bought from Aubrey Appleton in 1981 and was based in Hounslow, West London. David and Diane took the business into Pelican, but after some of the big players had decided to leave David was faced with either recruiting new Pelican members or offering themselves as a group to Britannia, which they did in 1987. In 1988 David was able to buy part of the family business, Trenchards, and took over Sketchley’s which virtually doubled the size of his business.

We discuss that David’s challenges were having no money at all when he and Diane bought Leatherbarrows, and 6 months after acquiring the business David was awarded a contract from a local department store who wanted to outsource their warehousing and deliveries, a contract David held for 39 years until the department store went into administration in 2019.

We discover that David would not change anything from his past because the traumatic experience of leaving the family business and buying Leatherbarrows gave David much better opportunity than he would have had.

We discuss David’s high points, of which there are many, but his biggest high point was in 1992 where he became BAR President for the year (as they were back in those days), the year when the borders came down in Europe. And the BAR Conference that David organised during his Presidency year which was held at Bournemouth International Centre (my first BAR conference where I exhibited as a supplier), which David was the Chairman of the Centre when it was built.

We discover that BAR Services did come from a study tour, the first BAR study tour of the USA and a consequent study tour of Europe where David, Derek Blatchford, Joe Luxford and others persuaded BAR to setup a study group to look at such things the industry and BAR could benefit from. In 1977 (corrected – not 1985) BAR Services was born as a co-operative/buying group and recruited Tony Allen to manage it. David was Chairman of BAR Services for 15 years, giving up the role when he became BAR President, but stayed on the board for 35 years!

We discuss BSEN12522 (something I was involved in being part of the original 6 companies to field trial it), and David has always been interested in standards. In 1992/3 after David’s Presidency, the French Removals Association had created a Quality Standard for Removals and had recommended it as a European Standard. 7 years on and David had completely rewritten it into what it is today.

We discover that QSS (Quality Service Standards), something David is very proud of, was formed because although FEDEMAC wanted to use outside companies to provide the assessments, the BAR, with David’s leadership, decided to use the talent of retired removers and train them to undertake the assessments. QSS is totally independent from BAR and non-BAR companies can apply to QSS for many of the ISO and BS Standards currently available.

We discuss that the one thing David would change within the industry is to make the BSEN12522 part of the BAR membership criteria. David would also like more regulation on the low weight vehicles (3.5 tonnes).

We discover that the advice David would give to himself just starting out again would be to follow your beliefs and do not be afraid to make yourself the odd one out.

We discuss that in the next 5 years David sees himself as just being there to provide guidance to his daughter and son-in-law who now run the business. We learn that David wanted to invest in demountable bodies as they offer more flexibility over rigids, similar to Richard Webster’s (Tonks Removals) comments in Episode 21. Industry wise David thinks removers need to be cleverer, recruit more youngsters and train them properly, and drivers have got to be self-taught.

We discover that David has over 300 model trucks that he has collected over the years! And I recite a story about my old boss, John McGinty (Alton Moves Group) who had models produced of his livery, to only discover an error on them!

We discuss that outside of the industry David has never lost his interest in local politics, and upon retirement from an employee of Leatherbarrows David was instrumental in successfully lobbying to drop the number of local councils in the Dorset area from 9 to 2.

And as always we end Moving Matters with not a funny, but a charming moving story with a repeat event that happened 25 years apart!

Enjoy!

Links to Britannia Leatherbarrows:

Special Guest: David Trenchard.

In this episode Mark Chudley, Director of Chudley Moving & Shipping discusses how he started in the industry some 44 years ago (1977), when he met a girl at 17 whose father was Derek Blatchford of Blatchpack of Exeter.

We discover that after 18 months full time in Exeter, Mark was sent to Stockport for 4 weeks to manage John Bradshaw, which was jointly owned by Derek Blatchford and Burt Waddington. However, 4 weeks turned into 4 years and Mark returned to the Exeter depot after John Bradshaw was sold to Malcolm Halley, before moving to the Bristol depot for a couple of years.

We discuss that in Mark’s latter years of his time at Blatchpack Bristol, he got quite heavily involved in antique shipping to the States. Upon leaving Blatchpack in 1988, Mark started antique shipping for Mike Bell (based in Chicago), which he did for 6 years. In 1994 he expanded into antique shipping for others, and although Mark did not want to do removals, however a change in the antique marketplace (with 911, the advent of the Internet, and the aids virus), meant that in 2003 Mark ordered his first removal truck!

We discover that having had experience of the BAR during his early days at Blatchpack, Mark joined the BAR in 2003, and on his second BAR area meeting became National Councillor for the Western Area, which was the start of Mark’s interest in BAR matters.

We discuss that approximately 12 years ago Mark met the Morton family in Cyprus, and started a working relationship offering imports and exports, which now accounts for a third of Mark’s business.

We discover that Mark has had a few challenges, in the early days it was financial, in 2008/9 it was the recession, but the most difficult was an accident that involved a fatality. Mark’s current challenge is trying to find drivers!

We discuss the change Mark would make from his past, especially the early days, was to take a few more chances rather than being too conservative.

We discover Mark’s succession plan was going to be his son Adam taking over the business. However, due to a very serious accident to a family member Adam switched industries to ensure continuation of that family business. Due to this Mark decided to look into selling the business and was in discussion with one of the larger groups, and then Covid hit which scuppered everything, but coincidently at the time an approach was made by Paul Fox, and today Chudley Moving & Shipping is now part of The Fox Group.

We discuss Mark’s high point, and it is that he succeeded in business, the respect earned, and working with his family.

We discover that Mark is BAR President Elect (BAR President from June 2021), and hopes to continue the theme of BAR being there for its members, supporting the Director General (Ian Studd) and to be active on committees.

We discuss what Mark would like to change within the industry and it is regulation and 3.5 tonne vans having an affect on the professionalism of the industry.

We discover that Mark’s advice to a younger self would be to have more confidence, but on the whole he is pretty happy with what he has achieved.

We discuss that over the next 5 years Mark has his 2 years of BAR Presidency, he is not ready for full retirement and is looking forward to opportunities within The Fox Group. Industry wise, Mark does not see any change in regulation and therefore smaller movers will continue to dominate the industry, and he also sees more consolidation.

We discover that outside of the industry Mark never switches off, but does find time to visit his caravan in Cornwall in the Summer, enjoys cooking and restoration, which he learnt from his early days working with Mike Bell.

And as always we end Moving Matters with 3 funny moving stories including a European trip via Switzerland, and another involving radiator covers!

Enjoy!

Links to Chudley Moving & Shipping:

Special Guest: Mark Chudley.

In this episode Mark Ratcliffe, Director of Mark Ratcliffe Moving and Self Store discusses how he started in the industry after relocating from Nelson, Lancashire to Eastbourne, East Sussex in 1982, where after collecting scrap metal and clearing rubbish in an old truck he saw an advert in the local newspaper and got a job as a removal man at Edwins of Eastbourne, where he learnt his craft, from Bernie.

Today, Mark owns Mark Ratcliffe Moving & Self Store which has been trading for 6 years now, but Mark is probably more well known for his previous companies, The Small Moving Company and more so A1 Worldwide Movers which he sold in 2006.

We discover that Mark has recently opened a Self-Storage facility (2 warehouses opposite each other) and finds this a better storage solution than containerised, which he was heavily involved with back in the mid 90’s, as Mark feels furniture should be stored in carpeted (very popular in Scandinavian countries) and temperature controlled rooms.

We discuss that after selling A1 Worldwide Movers, Mark took a sabbatical from the industry and went travelling to Thailand. It was during his travelling that he discovered a lot of expats were relocating, and as a result Mark now specialises in overseas moving to Thailand.

We discover Morris, Mark’s vintage 1963 Morris LD, which he found in a field full of scrap metal behind a steel container facility in Bournemouth where he was delivering goods in 2019. After negotiating a price of a mere £1,000 it was soon transported to UVB (Unique Van Bodies) in Warrington where 18 months later it was collected and will hopefully be seen at local events soon, and at The Movers & Storers Show later this year.

We discuss Your Moving Group and The Moving Group Academy that Mark is involved with. Your Moving Group was setup 5 years ago with Andy Pearson (of Family Movers), which started life as You Move Group that was predominantly a van rental service (which Mark confesses together they got their marketing completely wrong, and it failed miserably). Today Your Moving Group is a membership-based group with 14 members at the time of recording. The Moving Group Academy is the fundamental and educational side of the industry, which Mark would like to see run along the lines of the old TMI (The Movers Institute).

We discover that Mark has faced many challenges, not being cash rich, BAR membership and taking 5 years to secure an archive storage contract of 4.7m files. And although Mark Ratcliffe Moving & Self Store is currently not a BAR member it is something Mark wants to change in the very near future, “watch this space”.

We discuss that the one thing Mark would like to change from his moving past was to have had more of a balance of life and to have not committed himself 100% to his work and industry.

We discover Mark’s high point of being in the industry was BAR membership at A1 Worldwide Movers in 1995, which Mark sees as the pinnacle of being a mover with standards and service. And Mark recites a lovely story of driving to BAR Services to buy ‘everything’ on the day his application was finally approved, he even took an old BAR Perspex badge which he stood proudly outside of his shop the following day!

We discuss the one thing Mark would change within the industry would be to bring movers closer together and believes Study Tours are a great way of achieving this.

We discover that Mark’s advice to a younger self would be to grow slowly and steadily, do not get too big too quick.

We discuss that in the next 5 years although Mark has no succession plan in place, maybe one of the staff would take over the business, but a proposition has been made and accepted to a company overseas. Industry wise Mark believes the industry will be really good, movers will be able to sell far superior services than in the past and command better prices.

We discover that outside of the industry Mark loves music and travelling.

And as always we end Moving Matters with not 1, not 2, but 3 funny moving stories, one with Big Tom ending up in a customer’s fish pond, another concerning an urgent removal to store from a standard 16 bedroom house, and Mark’s first International move which turned out to be a complete disaster!

Enjoy!

Links to Mark Ratcliffe Moving & Self Store:

Special Guest: Mark Ratcliffe.

In this episode Richard Webster, Director of Tonks Removals, discusses how he became involved in the industry some 30 years ago, as a porter on the trucks straight after leaving school at the tender age of 15!

We discover that Tonks Removals was formed by the Tonks family in Scarborough back in 1820 and today celebrates its 201st year in business. Tonks Removals was put up for sale in 1995 by then owner Nigel Tonks, and Richard (20) together with his brother James (22) purchased the business for the princely sum of £8,000, with the assets consisting of a Bedford truck, the goodwill, the equipment, and the storage, which had to be relocated from its existing old school depository.

We discuss that there are no set roles within Tonks Removals for Richard or James, however James is more on the trucks while Richard is more office based, but they both like to get away on jobs when they can.

We discover that the challenges Richard has had to overcome were the lack of money, as the industry is a high-cost industry but not a high margin one, and being taken seriously at such a young age, but the biggest challenge was learning how to run a business.

We discuss that even though Richard cannot change anything from his past, however, if he could it would be to realise what the actual costs are to operate your business, know your costs and stop subsidising others who waltz off with the profit!

We discover that Richard’s high point of being in the industry in terms of the business was purchasing land to build their own facility in Carnaby, a mere 8 years ago, and as a person it is having the respect of others which he has earned and worked for.

We discuss that Richard would change a few things within the industry but the main one being the public perception of our industry (again!), which has changed in recent months, but he can see it reverting in due course. And I raise the question of whether the general public’s perception is that it’s not seen as skilled labour (which of course it is!) and discuss this further with Richard.

We discover that Richard uses demountable bodies (19 at the time of recording), as well as fixed bodied truck, but the demountable bodies offer the convenience of access issues, short term storage and cost implications for replacement of trucks.

We discuss that the advice Richard would give to a younger self and it would be to know your costings and not to be afraid to market yourself at the better end of the market.

We discover that in the next 5 years Richard sees the niche corporate moving in and out of Europe getting smaller and smaller with company mergers and acquisitions, plus the realisation that people can successfully work remotely, but he sees no change in the domestic moving industry.

We discuss how imports and exports since Brexit has affected business and Richard states that it is getting easier as the guidance, systems and knowledge base improves, and it is better as a lot of movers have pulled out of the European market and therefore sees relocation prices rising.

We discover that Tonks Removals are not members of the BAR, and Richard explains his reasons for this, but he and James have discussed applying once again.

We discuss that outside of the industry Richard tends to sleep a lot! He has started doing a lot more walking with his wife, he is a keen motorsport fan due to his love for driving, and he is actively involved in the parish council.

And as always we end Moving Matters with a couple of funny moving stories, a potentially X-rated one involving the client, the crew and a hot-tub, one involving Richard and an obnoxious customer, and a couple of short tales involving digging up a dead cat, and a terminally ill dog.

Enjoy!

Links to Tonks Removals:

Special Guest: Richard Webster.

In this episode Sarah Cole, Managing Director of Universal Commercial Relocation, discusses how she became involved in the industry only 20 years ago (next year) after leaving her role as a commercial property specialist within the legal profession to start a family.

We discover that Universal was formed in 1978 by Sarah’s father (William), and is a 2nd generation commercial moving specialist based in Greenford, Greater London, servicing mainly the London area, with a fulltime staff of approximately 25 and running a fleet of 8 vehicles. We also discover that Sarah is Managing Director of ISS (Information Storage Solutions), the document archiving side of the business which was started by Sarah’s mother (Margaret) in 1986.

We discuss that while archive is going more digital Sarah still maintains there is a large requirement for the physical storage side of things.

We discover that Sarah has very much enjoyed working in what is predominantly a male dominated industry and has never found any challenges with that. Sarah has found that there are a lot of women within management roles of organisations but would encourage more to get involved with the BAR initiatives.

We discuss how working from home has and will affect the commercial relocation industry and Sarah highlights that even before the pandemic companies were looking at the office space occupied and how they were using it, from a productivity, wellbeing, and a sustainability point of view, but it was such a huge and risky ask to undertake the stress test. However, the pandemic became that stress test and forced us overnight to work from home and leave the office behind. Sarah believes the future is with companies ultimately having a hybrid solution, shrinking the physical space but keeping separate office space for staff to participate in, but affording staff more flexibility about how to undertake their work.

We discover that Universal have many accreditations which Sarah believes is fundamental to business because office moving is business critical and the accreditations helps the client to manage the risk. We also discover that Universal have won the BAR Commercial Mover of the Year (CMotY) 3 times and is a great pat on the back for the staff that provide a huge contribution to the company.

We discuss that Sarah’s challenges to date are to always move with your client needs and to look ahead at where things are heading. Universal are always trying to add value to their clients to support them. Sarah also believes getting the message across in what they do, how they do it and the value they bring to a service is also often challenging.

We discover that Sarah would not change anything from her past, she enjoyed her time as a lawyer but was happy to move on and is very happy with what she does now and where Universal is.

We discuss Sarah’s highpoint, which was back in 2015 when Universal were awarded CMotY winners for the first time (having been a finalist twice before), and especially so as the awared was presented at conference (BAR) in the city in which her parents were from, Belfast.

We discover that the one change Sarah would make to the industry is to raise our profile, selling our services better and making clients aware how specialist we are and the professionalism we bring, as she believes as an industry, we undersell ourselves and there is often a race to the bottom in terms of pricing.

We discuss the advice Sarah would give to a younger self and it was confidence, get involved in the industry and BAR, go along to conferences/events and take up training and development opportunities offered.

We discover that within the next 5 years Sarah would like to grow the team at Universal, bringing in more junior members to the team and increasing and expanding the scope of what Universal do.

We discuss that outside of the industry Sarah likes to spend time with her family and friends, going out, attending concerts and eating in nice restaurants.

And as always we end Moving Matters with a funny moving story regarding Margaret Thatcher and a union card!

Enjoy!

Links to Universal Commercial Relocation Ltd:

Special Guest: Sarah Cole.

In this episode, Courtenay Morison, Director of Clockwork Removals & Storage, discusses how he started in the industry back in 1994/5 after he was asked to move a wardrobe for a friend across town (which he did with a friend for the princely sum of £20), using one of his long wheelbase vans from his Caller Keg business, where he delivered kegs of beer for weddings, parties, etc., but as this was mainly work on Friday’s and weekends the vans had nothing to do during the week. So having moved the wardrobe Clockwork Removals & Storage was born, in Edinburgh with a Luton van and a 7.5 tonne truck, operating originally from Aardvark Self Storage.

We discover that Clockwork Removals & Storage have an annual turnover of £11/12m and run 4/5 branches in Scotland and a further 4/5 in England, including the well-known brand of Edwards Trade Storage which runs out of Gloucestershire and services the London storage market. Clockwork employs approximately 130 full time staff and run 100 vehicles (which includes trucks, vans and cars).

We discuss Courtenay’s acquisitions over the years and although there have been none in the past three years, he is negotiations with several companies and is always on the lookout for business with a turnover of £500k+.

We discover that Courtenay believes domestic customers get a better deal with traditional 250 cuft storage containers over Self Storage, citing that customers do not need regular access and that there is a massive disparity in cost. Courtenay would never undertake the investment required to ‘kit out’ a property for Self Storage unless he owned the freehold and be within a town with ‘plenty of chimney pots’.

We discuss the challenges Courtenay has experienced, the main one being 10 years ago when Clockwork had too much debt and the company was not running as well as it should, even with a turnover of £19m at that time.

We discover that one change Courtenay would make to his past would have been to join another removal company, such as Pickfords, to learn the trade first-hand, therefore saving Courtenay years of ‘hardship and pain’ from the mistakes made in the early years of trading.

We discuss Courtenay’s highpoint, and it is now, as last year (2020) was a very good year for Clockwork, hitting 10% nett profit even during the pandemic.

We discover that Courtenay would not make a single change to the industry, the industry hasn’t changed from a moving perspective, 300 years ago you would have moved by horse and cart but the way in which you loaded that cart is no different from loading a truck, so it is incredibly resistant to change. I challenged Courtenay on the public perception of the industry, and he stated that it has always been like that and it will never change, citing 'buy cheap, buy twice'.

We discuss the advice Courtenay would give to a younger self and it was to go and work for a Pickfords or similar company and ‘learn on other people’s time’.

We discover that over the next 5 years Courtenay see’s low loaders being more prevalent in London and other major cities with 18 tonne truck restrictions becoming increasingly challenging. For Clockwork, Courtenay believes the storage market has never been busier, and see’s continued growth in this sector. Edwards Trade Storage currently house 5,500 containers but are looking to increase this by a further 2,000, and at that point Courtenay will then look to build a 100,000 sqft warehouse to hold 12,000 containers within 90 minutes of NW10 in London in the next 3/4 years.

We discuss that outside of the industry Courtenay enjoys spending time with his wife and 3 children and is keen to get back to playing rugby and enjoy a few pints afterwards, once the current lockdown restrictions are relaxed.

And as always we end Moving Matters with a funny moving story that ended up in court due to non-payment and the customer’s goods being skipped!

Enjoy!

Links to Clockwork Removals & Storage:

Special Guest: Courtenay Morison.

In this episode, Melissa Campbell, Managing Director of McGimpsey Brothers (Removals) Ltd, discusses how she got started in the removals industry, by purchasing the family business at the tender age of 26!

We discover Melissa never really had any involvement within the business beforehand, as she studied accountancy at university before joining KPMG in the audit department, where she studied for her charted accountancy exams at the same time! Then in 2018 her career took a U-turn and she ‘stumbled’ across the removals industry.

We discuss that Melissa, daughter of Campbell McGimpsey, knew that McGimpsey’s were planning for succession as her father and Uncles were looking to retire in the coming years, and during her fiancé’s (Steven) birthday dinner they decided together that they would make an offer to buy the company, which she made initially by text that evening!

We discover that McGimpsey’s was formed in 1983, started by Brothers Peter and Campbell, selling fish and vegetables from a van, where one evening they were asked if they could move a chest of drawers for a regular customer, which they did, and soon discovered they could make more money moving furniture than selling fish and vegetables. Fellow Brothers Stephen and Paul joined the company a few years later.

We discuss how Melissa has found life in what is considered a male dominated industry and find that she has not faced any real issues, with the majority being very respectful towards her.

We discover that Melissa thought her biggest issues when taking over the company were both her age and not having a removals background. But she soon discovered she had many transferrable skills, and being a Millennial, she had a good grounding in the use of technology in today’s society.

We discuss Brexit, and Melissa highlights that January was a challenge, with 5 to 6 vehicles on average moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland on a weekly basis, which now all require import declarations for every single one of those movements. Melissa also highlights that their European work has suffered a massive change, where pre-Brexit they would have gone through the GB land bridge, but post-Brexit is now an import and export into Great Britain and an import and export back out again, so she is constantly looking for new ways, including going direct from Northern Ireland to Europe.

We discover that every day brings a new challenge, however, Melissa’s biggest challenges to date, have been Covid and Brexit.

We discuss that Melissa’s high point of being in the industry is opening opportunities within McGimpsey’s, providing more career prospects for moving up the ladder.

We discover that even after a short period of time within the industry that Melissa would like a form of regulation to exist, which would help to make the industry more professional and in turn introduces better health and safety aspects.

We discuss that Melissa is the current Secretary for the BAR Northern Ireland Area and that she felt it important to put herself forward for such a role not only to continue the networks created by her predecessors, but also to drive attendance at meetings as she believes the BAR is such a great support network.

We discover that over the next five years Melissa hopes that McGimpsey’s have grown and introduced more technology and processes into the company – this year they have outgrown their storage facility at their Head Quarters in Bangor, taking on an additional 35,000 sqft warehouse. Industry wide Melissa believes the industry will still grow and the use of technology will expand.

We discuss that outside of the industry Melissa rarely switches off from the industry, however, during lockdown she took up baking which she enjoys, during times when there are no bars or restaurants open.

And as always we end Moving Matters with a funny moving story regarding Paul McGimpsey assisting a client in finding their chequebook to pay for their move.

Enjoy!

Links to McGimpsey (Brothers) Removals:

Special Guest: Melissa Campbell.

In this episode, Danny Pollard, Managing Director of Pollards Moving & Storage, discusses how he started in the industry some 20 years ago, working for a friend who’s business sadly went bust.

We discover after this Danny wrote a business plan and received a small loan from his parents, which he used to acquire the assets and formed Pollards Moving & Storage, some 16 years ago, and has since acquired Wades Removals in 2009/10, but primarily trade under the Pollards brand.

We discuss that Pollards Moving & Storage predominantly offer domestic home moving services but aim at the higher end of the market. They have a 10,000 sqft containerised storage facility and offer Commercial relocation and European & International albeit on a smaller scale.

We discover that for over 10 years Danny has collaborated with local charities on a ‘Gift Box’ scheme and explains that for those moving, Pollards provides the customer with boxes into which the customer packs their unwanted items, where they are then returned to store and finally distributed to local charity shops once the volume is large enough. The main charity that Danny supports is the Laura Crane Youth Cancer Trust.

We discuss Danny’s challenges, the last recession being one of the hardest as Pollards were in financial difficulties, which Danny turned around after meeting his current wife, due to her positive influence upon him. The lockdown was another challenge where Danny struggled, feeling like he had let customers, staff, and his own family down as he cancelled approximately 30 house moves.

We discover two things that Danny would change from his past. Firstly, not to start out cheap, to believe in himself and to market himself more to the higher end of the market when he started, and he discusses how difficult it was to make the switch from being cheap in his area to being the most expensive, by adding value to the client. Secondly, to have undertaken his Class 2 and CPC, he hopes to address the latter this year.

We discuss Danny’s high points of being in the industry and it’s the people he’s created friendships and relationships with, another being asked to become the BAR Yorkshire Area Secretary and then Chairman, and then representing the area on the BAR National Council.

We discover the one thing Danny would change within the moving industry is public perception, yet again.

We discuss the advice Danny would give to a younger Danny, and its people and the investment placed in them, with Danny’s moto being; employ well, treat well, train well, where necessary.

We discover that over the next five years Danny sees continued growth and recognition of the Pollards brand within the Yorkshire region, and that he has a success story and business model that he would like to help others within the industry use. In the industry Danny sees a definite change in how they operate over the next couple of years where it will remain stagnant, but he still sees growth and hopes that the public will now see more value in the industry since the pandemic.

We discuss that outside of the industry Danny enjoys Huddersfield Town FC, where he and his children are season ticket holders. Danny also enjoys golf, activities with the children, weekends away with the wife, travel and general outdoor pursuits, but Danny does find it hard to switch off.

And as always we end Moving Matters with a funny moving story regarding a job to Aberdeen with a deeply religious 85 year old lady, and her 4 goldfish.

Enjoy!

Links to Pollards Moving & Storage:

Special Guest: Danny Pollard.

In this episode, Rob Horrobin, Managing Director of John Lomas Removals, discusses how he started in the industry some 22 years ago at the tender age of 14, where he began as porter during his school holidays.

We discover that after a few years of portering Rob became involved in the Sales and Operations side of the business, and that in 2006 John Lomas Removals was brought by Clockwork where Rob became the fulltime Sales Estimator having just completed his Business Studies degree, and soon after became Operations Manager and subsequently Branch Manager.

We discuss how during the recession Rob was told that Clockwork were looking to close down the branch and run everything from their Sheffield location, but that got Rob thinking, and in 2011 together with his father they took over ownership of John Lomas Removals.

We discover that John Lomas Removals are a Bishop’s Move franchise, and Rob explains that Bishop’s bring policy and procedural knowledge, provide access to European and International rates that allow Rob to compete in those markets, and that they bring a revenue generating stream of work.

We discus that one of Rob’s biggest challenges to date has been COVID-19, sorting out policies and procedures to ensure safe working practices.

We discuss Rob’s high points of being in the industry and find that they are when being asked to move family and friends, winning the big jobs that take lots of planning, commercial work (although John Lomas Removals are not a member of the BAR’s Commercial Moving Group, but I sense a yet!) and the acquaintances and friends made along the way.

We discover that Rob would change two things within the moving industry. Firstly, the conveyancing process, because Rob believes that the industry loses too many good people, especially drivers, due to not knowing when they are going to be finished at the end of the day. And secondly, regulating the 3.5 tonne sector, bringing it under the operators licence jurisdictions.

We discuss that the advice Rob would give to a younger Rob would be to work harder at university, specialising in law, and become a solicitor! But on a more serious note, Rob would not allow the business or the industry run himself and not to become a slave to it.

We discover that outside of work Rob likes to spend time with his family, holidays, watching sport such as football (Rob is a massive fan of West Bromwich Albion), boxing, UFC and he’s a big golf fan, both watching and playing, as well as the usual eating out, socialising, watching films and bingeing on Netflix with the wife.

And as always we end Moving Matters with two funny moving stories, one that involved Rob himself and a driver desperate for ‘a number two’, and another involving the site manager on a new build.

Enjoy!

Links to John Lomas Removals:

Special Guest: Rob Horrobin.