Dominic Purslow has become depot principal at Jack Richards & Sons as part of the group’s development of its Palletways business.
Purslow, who joined the Norfolk-based logistics firm in 2005 as operations manager, has been increasingly instrumental in driving technology adoption and efficiency improvements within the pallet side of the business.
Palletways work now contributes 12% (or £2m) of the group’s annual turnover, up from around 8% when Purslow first joined.
The former BMW car-sales general manager says: “When I joined the business was being run very much as a haulage operation rather than as a franchise, which is a different minset. Increasingly our drivers are not simply delivering to a general site but also taking product for internet companies direct to consumers, so it's required a cultural shift”
Purslow has worked to streamline IT systems and the sharing of information amongst customers, reducing the administration burden and introducing greater automation in the warehouse to improve visibility of goods.
Peter Brown, MD of Jack Richards, says: "It is a great pleasure to be able to hand over the reins [of the Palletways part of the business] to someone as accomplished as Dominic.”
The latest figures from the Association of Pallet Networks show 7.5 million pallets have been shifted in the first half of this year, 7.9% ahead of the same period in 2010.
Purslow is positive about pallet volumes for Jack Richards in the remainder of the year and says: “We started slowly in the first few months but things have really taken off from September.”
The company recently added two bespoke DAFs to its pallet operation for use in urban areas. Jack Richards & Sons is also a founder member of transport consortium Harlequin, which was launched earlier this year.
