EXECUTIVE REPORT


Iain (left) and Douglas Anderson have overseen GAP’s remarkable growth.


GAP stands sure


As he reflects on his 20 years as EHN’s Editor, Alan Guthrie talks to GAP’s Joint Managing Directors, Douglas and Iain Anderson, about the company’s remarkable success over this period.


Of all the national hire companies that EHN has reported on during my two decades as Editor, perhaps Glasgow-based GAP Group has demonstrated the most consistent and focused growth. In family ownership throughout that period, the business that was founded 50 years ago by the late Gordon Anderson has been managed since 1988 by his two sons, Joint Managing Directors Douglas and Iain. This has enabled the organisation to adopt policies for long-term growth and has given it a clear direction.


throughout the economic downturn triggered by the ‘credit crunch’ that followed shortly afterwards, and so the business was well placed to benefit when the upturn came. Indeed, the specialist divisions now account for approximately one-third of turnover.


“One of the most important factors behind our growth is that it has been organic,” said Iain. “Some other companies have grown largely through acquisition - perhaps too quickly or paying too much, and acquiring people who didn’t suit their corporate culture.”


Douglas adds that, “Being privately owned, we have been able to take long-term decisions, not short-term ones just to bolster the bottom line. By definition, public companies are in broad ownership and may have board members who know virtually nothing about the business or the industry. Iain and I have always got on with each other, with me focusing on strategy and him specialising in sales and operations. Business does not have to be difficult, but some people seem to over-complicate it.”


“Every opportunity to develop and progress” GAP now has 146 depots throughout the country.


Signs of expansion were evident in a news item back in EHN’s September 2000 issue, which reported new GAP depot openings in Northampton, Milton Keynes, Coventry and Leicester to bring its total to 38. Today, it has 146 locations throughout the country, across 10 specialist divisions, comprising Plant, Tools, Non-Mech, Lifting & TIC (test, inspect and certification), Survey & Safety, Welfare, Events, Vehicle Hire, Trenching & Shoring and its most recent, Tanker Services launched in January. Last October, GAP announced record annual profits and turnover, achieving a pre-tax profit of £18.7m in the year to 31 March 2019. This was an increase from £16.7m in the preceding 12 months, as annual turnover rose by 8.8% to £203m. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose from £73.1m to £80.4m, an all-time high, and for the first time in the company’s history, net assets have climbed above £100m. GAP has also now welcomed the third generation of the family into the senior management team. So how has it maintained this remarkable growth?


Successful specialist divisions


In 1988, Douglas and Iain embarked on a 20-year strategy to achieve national coverage with its core plant and tool hire operation. When this was achieved by 2007, after a short pause, they started establishing specialist divisions to meet customer demand. This continued even


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Iain said, “We aim to be fair, honest and equitable in all we do. For example, we have been prepared to persevere with initially under-performing depots, by training and encouraging the staff, and this eventually turned things round. We don’t want our people to think that they are just numbers on a list: we want to give them every opportunity to develop and progress. We devolve much of the decision-making to our regional divisional managers, and depot managers are empowered with an agreed ‘spend’ to quickly buy additional fleet items if necessary.”


The company prides itself on the newness of machines in its fleet.


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