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All branches of distribution come under the Greenwoods tree
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reenwoods Transport has spent almost 40 years building up a national transport system, stretchHg from Land's End to John O'Groats.
This has been achieved on a broad base of services — a large general haulage fleet which can handle a 'one off' .order as easily as the regular contract, warehousing space totalling more than a million square feet, and a distribution set-up which can look after the job from the client's factory right through to a corner shop delivery.
The growth of the business owes much to its reliability and expertise in a competitive field. But every firm is of course only as good as its staff. Here Greenwoods is fortunate in having among its 750 employees many of long standing who still tend to look on the firm as a family business. Although it retains the personal touch it has come a long way from being the small family business it once was. Greenwoods St. Ives, as it was originally known, was formed in 1937 and was acquired in 1967 by the Consolidated Gold Fields group, founded by Cecil Rhodes. Subsequently Gold Fields bought out the Amey Group which included the Wootton-based Amey Transport Company and the Southampton-based Victory Transport Company, and the various transport interests were merged with Greenwoods in 1973 under the-umbrella of the Amey Roadstone Corporation.
All are working directors
Paddy Bennett, the managing director, has been in the haulage business for 40 years, and was largely responsible for building up what is now the biggest magazine distribution operation in the country. His son Patrick learned the business from the ground floor before becoming a director, and he has now taken over the running of the magazine side. The chairman, Hugh Parry, is financial director of the parent ARC company. and Peter Roe is the representative from Consolidated Gold Fields. The other members of the board are John Baker, a former director of Victory Transport, and Peter 'Croft, both now area directors.
Now the company operates from 13 depots with a fleet of some 350 vehicles, ranging from 6-cwt vans to 32-ton artics, with the distinctive G-and arrow logo.
The vehicles are capable of carrying almost any type of load, including raw materials, industrial freight, foodstuffs, pharmaceuticals and other packaged goods.
"Whatever the problem, we have the equipment and the managerial know-how to handle it,'" says managing director Paddy BENNETT,
Repairs and maintenance at Greenwoods own workshops
The firm's vehicles cover more than 10 million miles a year, but that is nowhere near full capacity. Greenwoods operate a 'safety margin' system, allowing all vehicles ample off-road time for servicing, routine maintenance and repair, rather than run to 100% potential in the manner of some less responsible operators who give the haulage industry a bad name. Essential mechanical work is carried out by the firm's own trained staff, and this means a replacement can be sent to take over the load if the original vehicle should break down -a back-up service beyond the scope of most smaller firms.
Greenwoods operates a highly professional distribution service on behalf of a wide range of clients, many of them brand leaders and household names.
Magazines for a start: its a good bet that the publication you are reading at this moment was part of a consignment handled at the firm's depot in Hoddeson, Herts, or at Warboys not far from Cambridge. This is a highly sophisticated operation involving very tight delivery timetables.
But there are hundreds of other commodities carried from these and other bases, either for immediate delivery or for storage.
Oil is one important example of Greenwoods specialisation in handlingthe depot at Hursley, Winchester, has developed special facilities for receipt, storage and distribution for one of the major oil companies.
Food and consumer goods -kept completely separate from goods such as fuel and chemicals -are another feature of the firm's service. For example, for one major client. Greenwoods handles a complte distribution operation for the whole of South Wales and the West involving a throughput of some 800 tons per week. At the other end of the scale, the firm runs a daily service to the Isle of Wight by ferry, after a dawn start by the lorry leaving Rownhams, near Southampton.
with a load of foodstuffs for delivery to shops throughout the island.
Contract leasing is a further aspect of the service. These package deals entail provision of staff and vehicles :sometimes in the customer's own livery), plus storage space, so that an entire distribution operation can be carried out. The scheme is of particular benefit to customers whose turnover does not justify tying up capital in their own transport operation.
Any combination of haulage, storage and distribution can be planned and tailored to meet the needs of individual customers. Indeed. Greenwoods can figure in a chain from raw materials to finished product.
This is achieved by collecting the basic commodity from the factory, putting it into store, then delivering it to the manufacturing point; another collection-and-store cycle or direct delivery to the customer -followed by final delivery anywhere in the U.K.
Storage space, incidentally, is no problem for Greenwoods. It has acres of it, ranging from 320,000 sq ft. at Appleton. Warrington down to a more modest 17,000 at Portsmouth.
These vast areas are available either as part of the distribution service or on a rental-only basis. The company is well equipped with the latest mechanical handling aids, and pays strict attention to storage requirements and correct rotation of stock. Once in store, the company can adapt to any specific stock requirement.
Greenwoods depots — well placed to cover the country
The head office at Hoddesdon, where the Marketing !Sales and other Group Services are based, is within a short drive of some glorious Hertfordshire countryside. And at Rownhams, near Southampton. there is an old Manor House, listed as a building of architectural and historical interests within the confines of the firm's site Other major outlets are at Old Sodbury, near Bristol, which acts as a gateway to Wales and the West Country: Wootton, covering Oxfordshire and the heart of England: and Exeter, where the depot on the giant Marsh Barton trading estate is conveniently • placed for coverage of Devon and Cornwall.
Aylesbury, Avonmouth and Winchester are the sites of the other southern bases. Appleton, close to Manchester, provides for the North-West, Newcastle for the North-East, and Rutherglen. Glasgow covers the whole of Scotland. The offices at Newcastle also act as clearing houses for other haulage companies.
Greenwoods aims to give a totally reliable service . . . and knows that the customers play a large part in building up this image. Many clients have been dealing with the firm for more than 30 years, which is a clear indication of the regard in which Paddy Bennett and his team are held by those who in the end keep the wheels turning.