Iain Mitchell, MD of Grangemouth operator John Mitchell Haulage & Warehousing, has a far-away look in his eye. He is explaining the origins of the firm's current logo - in particular the bird swooping down the side of its trailers (a bird I've already mistakenly referred to, much to my embarrassment, as a duck). The bird in question is actually an osprey it harks back to an experience Mitchell had several years ago while on a charity walk in the Scottish Highlands. He was standing outside the hotel on the shore of Loch Mullardoch when, in his words, "what came down out of the sky but an osprey - it lifted a fish right out of the water. It was so graceful," he enthuses. "We can send man to the moon but that was just something else." It's a delightfully whimsical moment for someone more usually concerned with the nuts and bolts of running a 100-truck-plus transport fleet.
The story is also in stark contrast to the origin of the company's colour scheme. The battleship-grey base was originally marine paint from a nearby shipbuilder, brightened up with a maroon stripe - later growing to incorporate the top half of the cab - added from a similar source. Nowadays the firm spends a cool £2,000 per truck on the paint jobs a sum Mitchell thinks is money well spent: "I always say that's my marketing budget." The only other time Mitchell appears quite as animated is when he is extolling the virtues of his beloved Falkirk FC or describing the crowning moments of his career. Back in 2002 the firm was named Haulier of the Year by CM's stablemate Motor Transport at its annual awards ceremony.
Mitchell takes up the tale: "It was in the Albert Hall in front of 2,000 people... the people, the atmosphere" he tails off. "To be named winner - wow! I get a warm feeling just thinking about it." (The other career highlight he cites, in case you were wondering, was winning his Class 1 LGV licence.) Mitchell is, in his own words, "the typical haulier's son". He joined the business his parents set up after years spent shadowing his dad. "I'd be in here before I went to school and then I'd be back here in the evening," he recalls. "I had no interest in doing anything else other than working in transport."
Roots in the business
"I loved being in my Dad's shadow," he adds. "Can you imagine how exciting it was as an eight-year-old watching ships unload steel, or watching tractors being loaded up at Bathgate? Going down to the docks at five o'clock and seeing 20 trailers waiting to be roped and sheeted was always great. I thought it was great fun and was disappointed when there was nothing to do at night."
Mitchell joined the firm when he left school in 1979 and became MD 17 years ago. However managing the change from one generation to the next was a challenge: "I did have problems with two or three of the longer-serving members of staff. They'd always seen me as the laddie of the business and weren't willing to work for me - they would say 'we've always done it this way, why are we changing?'
"But I found that the ones who played it awkward made it character-building for me. I had to get the job done with them. Mind you, they all retired out of the business so I can't have been that bad to work with. I didn't do anything drastically different. There was a difference, but to their eternal credit [my parents] supported me all the way and never gloated when it didn't work out."
Mitchell has managed the steady evolution of the business during his 17 years in charge. Probably the most significant move was dividing it into two operating divisions - containers and general haulage - about 10 years ago, with a third division, bulk powders, added three years ago. Challenge and managing change seem to be central themes of Mitchell's working life: "I love the challenge. There's not a day that goes by when somebody doesn't say 'we can't do that'. I always ask why not."
It's an attitude that has helped the company prosper, winning another award along the way, this time for being Scotland's most innovative haulier. Mitchell explains: "We had to bring in a commodity from France. We were constantly told we couldn't do it within three months we had it running as sweet as a nut."
Always ready to adapt
The business has also required adaptability to keep it on an even financial footing. After a rocky year in which rising fuel prices wiped out its profits, Mitchells was forced to re-evaluate certain contracts: "We have walked away from some big customers. One was a container line worth £500,000 in turnover to us.
"We had no option because the rates were terrible and the payment terms were shocking. We walked away from it last September and never missed a beat.
"You really have to make sure you move with the times... I get frustrated hearing people say 'it wasn't like that in my day' or 'this is how I do it'. You have to be prepared for change."
Given this philosophy, it comes as no surprise that the firm has been keen to invest in telematics and digital tachographs. Mitchell puts it bluntly: "I can't believe people who won't embrace technology. If it doesn't catch you now, it'll catch you next time."
Of course there are some challenges that the firm could have done without. Grangemouth was the first container port in the country and the firm carried one of the first boxes to arrive. This was back in 1966 and until recently Mitchell feels the authorities at the port had barely evolved since then, describing it as "around 20 years behind the times in container handling and investment". He reports that it was not unusual to see queues of trucks trailing out of the docks and down the road.
Fortunately things have improved recently: "Over the past three years they've spent an absolute fortune expanding the facilities and investing in cranes. I'm very supportive of what they are doing down there. That's not to say there weren't times when I could have throttled them, but they realised they had a problem and have worked very hard to resolve it. It was expanding volumes that caused the problems in the first place and that's something we've all felt the benefit of."
Managing another generational shift may be the firm's next challenge. Mitchell is hoping the business will stay in the family - he has two children and his sister Catherine, a co-director, has three. But he is careful to stress that there is no compulsion for them to enter the industry: "The kids are all at an age when they are getting round to making career choices and choosing their way forward in life. "
Maintaining an ethos
"They're under no pressure to come into the business unless they want to, although my son says he wants my job because he thinks that all I do all day is to go for extended lunches and play golf!" It's a business that Mitchell is clearly proud of, both in terms of the job it does and the heritage it has. He seems particularly pleased that he has kept his parents' commercial ethos alive: "We run our business the way we want to and the way our parents would have wanted us to carry it on. Our parents were people of great integrity and we wanted to maintain that. I think if I had to liquidate the firm I would take it like a bereavement - I don't want to sound corny but I love my business. I can't believe people who won't embrace technology. If it doesn't catch you now, it'll catch you next time."
For more in-depth interviews with industry figures, visit Roadtransport.com's interviews page.
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