1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148 
THE ART OF SURVIVAL: F KNOWLES & SON
Page 21
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
F Knowles & Son works mainly on container traffic to and from railheads and ports, including Felixstowe and Southampton. It depends on the sort of jobs that do well when international trade is flourishing but do badly when it is not. Today, international trade is certainly not flourishing.
But Knowles, which operates 14 trucks, is keeping going, despite the hard times. It briefly laid off one driver, but has now taken him back on again, albeit part-time.
In John Knowles' own words: It is just about survival at the moment."
For this firm, survival means making the most of the work that is there, relying on customers for whom they have worked for years and ensuring that it is making every penny count.
But should the company be thinking about diversifying? The chance would a fine thing, says Knowles, adding: "It's hard to diversify because there isn't much to diversify into. Everybody has been hit, big and small, hauliers and customers."