Foulger Transport

Source: Supply Chain Digital

Date :11/04/2008 15:27:44

Following a management buyout in 1996, Tom Baron and Barry Germany have set about building Foulger Transport’s fleet and customer base. Exec finds out more

Written by Lucy Mowatt and Produced by Paul Radbourne

Ideally located alongside the A11 in Norfolk, Foulger Transport is a company that has grown substantially in the last decade, following a management buyout by three members of its management team. Since then it has built on its reputation to gain new customers.

Having been employed by Foulger Transport since the 1980s, Tom Baron was keen to explain the background of the company, and how it was that he came to be involved with a management buyout: “Richard Foulger who owned the company was my stepfather,” he says. “I started working for the company in 1984, and Barry joined in 1987. I then took my Class One, spent three years driving and then moved into the office alongside Barry and another manager, Jim Watson, who has since passed away.”

When the time came for Richard to retire Tom, Barry and Jim made the decision to buy the business. “Richard was kind enough to help us with the finances,” Barry continues. “I was only a young lad, but had a passion for the business.” In order to safeguard the future of the company, it was purchased from Richard over a period of ten years to make it easier for the new owners.

Growing fleet

Since then, the company hasn’t looked back. “We have 81 lorries. When we took over, we had just 35,” Barry says.

Foulger Transport operates from eight warehouses now too – with a total floor space of 350,000 square feet. Two of these sites are directly owned by the company, and the company’s managers reveal that there may be opportunity for expansion going forward.

In line with the increased capacity for warehousing and vehicles, Foulger Transport’s client list has also grown.

Tom explains: “When we took over we had one customer that made up 30 percent of our work. If we lost that customer we would have been struggling. Now we have a much larger customer base and we still have that customer.”

New business has largely been attracted by the company’s reputation for an exceptional service too, rather than marketing campaigns. “50 to 60 percent of the work has come to us through word of mouth and what we’ve tried to do is work with customers, to keep the customers and try to go the extra mile,” Barry adds.

Integrated services

These new customers include the likes of US based Life Fitness, part of the Brunswick Group. The company had previously lost the contract to distribute Life Fitness gym equipment when it could not offer the integrated warehousing and logistic services Life Fitness was looking for. Since then, however, Foulger Transport has expanded and can now offer the integrated solution its customers require.

“They went off to one of the big players, who didn’t get it 100 percent right, so they asked us to quote again,” Barry says. “We found a warehouse [based in Snetterton] and bought the vehicles and since then they’ve put more business with us.”

Across the company, new IT services have been put in place, which have helped with the administration side of the business. The online job booking system means that customers can book jobs themselves, while sites are also equipped with barcode scanning systems, which track the movement of pallets both into and out of warehouses. These IT systems will be extended later in 2008 in order to allow local customers to monitor the movement of their goods around the county.

The number of services offered has increased too. Having joined Palletline eight years ago, Foulger Transport is now able to offer a next day delivery service around the UK. For a minimal cost, the company can collect the consignment from a customer and then trunk it to the Palletline hub in Birmingham, where it can be transferred to other carriers and then sent off with their local drivers to its final destination the next day.

Four years ago Foulger Transport also introduced a breakdown service for commercial vehicles: “We’ve got a very good workshop manager who was very keen to progress this part of the business. We bought one old recovery vehicle and found that there were people out there requiring this service. We have eight recovery vehicles now and we’re part of the Police Scheme - we’re on call 24 hours for them,” Tom enthuses.

Freight Consolidation

Foulger Transport has become involved with measures to reduce the number of lorries on the road in Norwich city centre. The Norwich Freight Consolidation Centre has been set up in conjunction with the City Council in order to reduce congestion in a way that will also be beneficial to retailers.

Suppliers are able to drop off stock at the Centre run by Foulger, where deliveries can be grouped together according to destination. Barry says, “If we’re getting one pallet for each store, we can consolidate those onto one lorry, instead of having six lorries going into Norwich.”

In addition, whole loads can be dropped off at the site, and be distributed by Foulger Transport when the stock is needed, because most stores would not have the space to house a whole load of stock. “There are a lot of stores out there that don’t have space to store more than ten pallets at a time,” Tom explains. “They want a new pallet every day, rather than a full load every month.”

The scheme is also looking at moving stock outside of peak times. “We would prefer to go in at night,” Barry continues. “If you think about it, a lot of hauliers are working days while lorries are standing here over night.” It would also have the added advantage of allowing retailers to restock their lines over night and keep traffic out of the city during the day.

Such action would have a positive impact upon the air quality in the city and reduce the carbon footprint of suppliers. Foulger is already making moves at its own facility to reduce its impact upon the environment. Recycling is high on the agenda, with plastic, wood and other kinds of packaging sorted and baled for reuse. 15 new Euro V compliant lorries were purchased in 2007 too, and these meet forthcoming legislation for commercial vehicles, while Foulger it is also looking at the feasibility of biodiesel.

Barry says that Foulger Transport now has a solid base to build on, in a location with a good road network throughout East Anglia. “We would like to be noticed as a haulier really,” he says, but the company does not want to lose its focus on customer service.

Click here to view the corporate brochure on Foulger Transport