REPUTABLE REVIVAL
Page 40
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Jim Phillips kept aside two rigid tippers from the TAL sale and went on to run them under the name of James Phillips & Sons.
He had two reasons for doing this. First, both tipper drivers had long-service records and, second, the local quarry work had been a constant part of operations since the firm’s inception in 1947.
Today, after some reorganisation at Tarmac’s Alnwick facility, just one tipper is run alongside two Volvo FH tractors, which haul Wilcox smooth-sided tipper trailers and are employed mainly on haulage of cereal products. Jim decided on a modest move into bulk transport after the loss of that rigid and hired a truck to help out with the local harvest.
There’s no intention to expand the fleet though, as Jim is happy with his manageable lot. The firm’s three drivers are all former Phillips of Seahouses men, and Alan Speirs, the tipper wheel man, has an impressive 45 years’ service with the family.
Jim’s views on pre-pack administrations in general and the former TAL Logistics Group remain strong and, purely on principle, he switched banks to move away from the financiers who backed the former Sheffield-based group.