FIND OUT MORE www.executivehirenews.co.uk/trelawny


LOCAL HEROES Meet the Smiths team and see the full range of services at www.smiths-gloucester.co.uk and find out more about Ermin Plant at www.erminplant.co.uk


The next move was into a small Portacabin, with Alan’s wife Anne joining the fledgling company and his sister helping out with the books. Other family members and generations have since entered the frame, of course, so who’s here now?


“Well, there’s mum and dad, and us four children. Dad’s sister is in the process of retiring, but her son is now one of our divisional managers. Also, our two cousins on Dad’s side have since joined the business,” says daughter Rebecca Pullin, who as well as being company secretary is the newly appointed director of Ermin Plant, which Smiths acquired earlier this year.


Prior to the Ermin expansion, Smiths divided its business into four main sectors – waste management & skip hire, transport & plant hire, construction & demolition and support services including drainage and minor groundworks. Aside from yourselves, how is the company structured across all divisions?


“We have nearly 300 employees in the waste and skip hire divisions,” says Rebecca, “There are about 70 in construction, 50 in transport and 60-70 in plant hire. The rest are in admin and management roles – around 507 of us in total. We were a construction-driven business, but this has definitely shifted towards waste management and skip hire over the last ten years.”


It was the Ermin connection that eventually led to this interview – the introduction being made by The Hire Exchange, which brokered the deal. How much has this added to the Smiths empire and why was it a target for acquisition?


“We have always looked after our own needs with smaller tools and equipment, but we struggled to offer this as a service alongside our larger machinery and other divisions,” explains son and executive officer, Paul Smith. “Ermin gives us an additional six depots and around 50 more staff – they are much better structured to offer a more traditional plant and tool hire service.”


“Ermin are a local firm and we’d previously suggested that we should look at them if they ever came up for sale. The businesses that we bought in the past were just incorporated into the Smiths group, but we felt that the Ermin name was so strong that we wanted to retain that and leave the business model as it was,” adds Rebecca.


That’s a good point - names are important, so what does yours mean for your customers?


The Smiths construction fleet includes machinery from one to 55 tonnes. Just a few of the smaller ones shown here.


“Because of the size of our business, we are governed by the need to produce environmental reports, carbon reduction plans and such. It’s not that we aren’t interested in all of that, but it’s difficult when you can’t get large scale electric machines and lorries for the sort of work that we do. However, this is something that we are investigating, it’s just that the technology just isn’t there at the moment,” says Rebecca.


In terms of your own responsibilities, they’ll certainly change now that you are the Director of Ermin. In stepping up, do you have any particular plans or ambitions?


“The Ermin business model is very successful, but what they haven’t had is a lot of investment, and they’d admit that they are quite antiquated in some areas. Covid


“That comes from a phrase I used to like – ‘Love a lot, trust a few, but always paddle your own canoe’. Our marketing team says this is a bit too long, so we’re moving to ‘As good as our word, as strong as our name.”


Lastly, any final thoughts after four decades in the business?


“I think a lot has changed in 40 years, but many of the principles remain the same – get the right people around you, provide good customer service and always work hard. There were many times in the early days where I barely saw my children, but that enabled me to put my stamp on the company. Anne and I are starting to move away from the business, so it’s their time now to follow the momentum or do what they want with it.” n


“Some of our customers have been with us for 40 years,” says Rebecca. “We always strive to remain true to our values, and that’s perhaps easier to achieve with the family involved on a day-to-day basis. We’re not just people that nobody ever sees, we’re approachable and if any of our customers ever has a problem they just ring one of us!”


The Smiths customer base is obviously diverse, but who do you work with on the construction and plant hire side?


“We work as subcontractors for companies such as E G Carter, Kier, Sisk, Barnwood Construction and Bowmer + Kirkland. We also have projects in care homes and supermarkets, and now we’re involved in Amazon warehouses and things like that,” says Paul.


Moving on, and I noticed a heading on your website labelled ‘Responsibility’, but this is more about operational health & safety than any environmental concerns. Why is that?


Smiths (Gloucester) - Profile


of the principles remain the same – get the right people around you,


‘‘


provide good customer service and always work hard


enabled us to implement several processes here, such as the paperless office, flexible working, looking after staff and HR, but Ermin hasn’t had this next tier of resource, energy and ideas. I think that’s what they’ll get from Paul and I, and we are absolutely going to invest in the Ermin fleet.”


’’


As the meeting draws to a close, a couple of questions for Alan. Firstly, why is the company newsletter called ‘The Canoe’?


…a lot has changed in 40 years, but many


July/August 2022 - Executive Hire News 31


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36