J.A. Coles Today
Journal:Truck&Driver
Section:Feature
Title:Dan, Dan, The Removals Man
Issue Date:01/05/2004
Author:D Young
Copyright:Free Reuse
Dan, Dan, The Removals MAN
Small is beautiful, and the mixed fleet - including a brace of ex-Stobart, S-reg MANs - of removals firm J A Coles is prettier than most. Dave Young slopes off to Stoke Newington to meet first Dan, second Dan and the rest of the Jeakins family
Small hauliers, once the backbone of British road transport, are a dying breed, inexorably replaced by the rapacious rise of multinational 'logistics providers'. Family firms are in even shorter supply, so T&D was delighted to find one still flourishing close to where it started 40 years ago.The antecedents of J A Coles Ltd go back even further than 1964, over a century in fact, but while tradition remains important this company isn't stuck in the past.The Coles fleet, like its working methods, is a careful mixture of the old and new. In addition to two ex-Eddie Stobart MANs and several secondhand Ivecos (the oldest on a J plate), the firm also operates two modern Actros Mercs.
FOUNDED IN 1964
The company was founded by Dan Jeakins with a single wagon in 1964 - although his grand-father was a carter in Hoxton in the 1890s - and has traded under the names of Jeakins, Coles and Pope, reflecting the smaller firms acquired in the early days for their valuable operator's licences. The fleet is characterised by a very high standard of presentation; witness the distinctive and unique livery of burgundy and red cabs, black chassis and Pompadour Blue van bodies. Most of the work in the late '60s, '70s and '80s was in transporting finished product for the rapidly fading furniture industry based on the nearby River Lea, with a small sideline in removals. Today only the livery remains unchanged.
PRIDE IN THEIR ACHIEVEMENTS
In the intervening years Dan senior decided to take a back seat and is semi-retired, although his pride in the firm and his boys is obvious. Steve and Kirk are also directors of the family business but prefer to stay 'hands on' by driving (with an MAN apiece), purchasing and maintaining the wagons.The younger Dan's philosophy in shaping and building Jeakins to survive the new millennium might serve as an object lesson to managers of many bigger companies. As the local furniture-building business declined or moved out of the Smoke, he recognised the need to diversify and change the fleet to accommodate new work.The original Listria Park site was developed for housing in Stoke Newington's booming property market but the firm retains an office nearby and a warehouse just up the road in Tottenham, from which they provide removals, packing and large crate storage to the middle-class populations of Stoke Newington, Muswell Hill, Crouch End, Finchley and Hampstead. Carefully targeted advertising, a website and plenty of repeat business stemming from personal recommendation have built up a healthy turnover, served primarily by the 7.5-tonners.Why such small trucks? Because the streets of northare narrow, clogged and with appalling access. This is one occasion when conventional wisdom is turned on its head and it's sometimes better to use two small trucks than one large one. This is also where the family's sharp minds and years of experience really pay off.The artic fleet's two new Actroses, leased on R&M contracts, do the furniture distribution work supported by the two carefully refurbished MANs and a Wendy House, using both the company's own and hired trailers. The Mercs are the high-mileage wagons. Young Mr Dan has calculated that the R&M cost is cheaper than Coles could maintain them for in-house, especially since new engines and transmissions embody so much electronics. By leasing them they have dealer back-up throughoutand, indeed, the two Mercs often venture across the water.
BIZARRE COLLECTION OF TRAILERS
As the artics return to base come the end of each day, they can be pressed into service to support removal operations using what at first sight seems a bizarre collection of oddly shaped trailers. The Jeakins family wastes nothing; just as box bodies are shortened, fitted with side doors and moved from one rigid chassis to another, so trailers are acquired piecemeal, often from customers, and adapted for particular purposes.'These are my 17-tonners,' says Dan junior, pointing to incongruously short single-axle box van trailers converted to run on air-suspension. 'We can get these into streets where a long-wheelbase rigid just wouldn't fit. Today the enterprise has just 15 full-time staff and a smaller overall number of vehicles than in 1986: five artics - a generation ago there were none - four 7.5-tonne rigids, two Transit box vans and two runabouts.The trucks gleam, and not solely for our snapper's benefit: a look through the Jeakins clan's comprehensive photo album shows it was ever thus. From early bonneted Fordsons and TJs, through the reign of the TKs, the Jeakins fleet shone. High standards were bred into the boys, testimony to which is a shot of them (above) sitting in line in the yard during the school holidays painstakingly painting a pile of wheels.Bodies are burnished, cabs beautifully signwritten, the chassis kitchen-clean. This line-up embodies professionalism the removals wagons intended to create, a reassuring first impression to stressed householders fretting over moving home. This professionalism is accomplished because Dan senior's wisdom led him to exercise that most precious piece of business acumen: knowing when to delegate, providing each son with his own area of expertise and responsibility. Dan junior, 38, is the business controller; he knows exactly what the firm's costs are, is clear on overall strategy but leaves all lorry-related matters to his brothers. In short, while Dan has the keys to the toolbox, his siblings wield the spanners. Steve, 36, has developed valuable and market-able skills in the purchase, preparation and conversion of vehicles while Kirk, 32, provides a one-stop-shop project management service to customers. Manufacturers may not want the hassle of running their own wagons; equally they've no wish to trust a valuable and fragile load to just any old haulier. Kirk provides solutions to soothe away their troubles.
COULD BE FLASHIER
Sure, the firm could be flashier. As directors the boys might treat themselves to a brace of new TG-As but, with low tare weights, the 400hp MANs are easily up to the job and, since they're bought and paid for, can simply be parked up if work drops off. The unusual trailers, also owned outright, provide the necessary flexibility to tackle almost any task. Much the same criteria apply to the rigid trucks; a J-reg Iveco might seem elderly but remember, the vehicles are scrupulously maintained and in common with most removals vans turn in a very low annual mileage.Despite fewer trucks the firm is busy, turnover having consistently increased in each of the last 12 years. Drivers can be tough to get and keep inand its environs but Dan tries to offer a career structure and works to create removals teams of compatible personalities.Oldest-serving employee Ted Shirley has been with Jeakins for 29 years. Karl Handleigh, who does most of the Continental jobs and is also a mechanic, also has several years' service.’ People are always prepared to pay for quality, which is what we sell on. The trucks are mobile billboards,' claims the younger Dan, citing a host of BAR and BSI-standard accreditations. Coles won't chase low rates and the company is unlikely to get any bigger: 'This is a reasonable size; you can't keep close control of a bigger firm,' Dan says. Dan senior looks back fondly on the firm's 40 years, grateful that, unlike many drivers, 'I never miss-ed out on my kids' childhood. They were always with me because they want-ed to be.' Rightly pleased with what he's built, he sums up the business concisely: 'You have to have your heart in what you're doing.' I'll be back in 18 years to check on progress, lads…