The Anderson clan motto is ‘Stand sure’ and GAP has certainly demonstrated steadfastness and resolution. Known for his dry sense of humour, Douglas said, “For fear of sounding arrogant, I sometimes ask myself why wouldn’t someone want to deal with us? We believe in the quality of our business. In the early years, a few potential customers have rather niggled us by saying they would only deal with us when we offered national coverage; then they said we needed to offer more tools alongside plant; then they said we needed to offer a broader range of specialist equipment - and still they won’t use us! So even after we developed the business to satisfy all customer requests, you just have to accept that some people won’t use you, for whatever reason.”
Those exceptions apart, GAP customers can now hire products from a much broader operation, and this obviously requires personnel with appropriate knowledge. Iain said that, “We place a lot of emphasis on staff learning and development, and not just for depot and field-based people. For example, our ‘GAP one’ call centre is a single point of contact for customers requiring a lot of diverse equipment or needing items at sites throughout the UK. As well as internal training, we are able to work with key suppliers to give demonstrations of products so that they all know about the items they are hiring.”
Third generation of the family
While the Anderson brothers are still very much at the helm, GAP has now introduced the third generation of the family into the business. Douglas’s son, Mark, has been appointed as MD of the business in Scotland and the North of England. Karen Greenshields, who is the daughter of Douglas and Iain’s sister, Maureen Smith, is now MD of the Lifting, Survey and Safety Division. Iain’s son James is General Manager for Heathrow Plant & Tools, and his daughter Nicola is General Manager based at GAP’s depot in Sighthill, Edinburgh.
The Tanker Services Division was launched in January.
“None of our children have been under any pressure to join the business,” said Douglas, “but they love the industry and share our work ethic. They have also had considerable hire-related work experience outside GAP to give them a more rounded insight into the market.”
Another recent development is that Richard Dey, whose previous appointments have included senior positions with A-Plant and Travis Perkins Hire, is joining GAP as Managing Director for London and the South East.
Largest location to date
The company’s positive outlook shows no sign of diminishing. It has just established a huge new depot in Tilbury, East London, at which each of GAP’s divisions will have a presence. This will be its largest single location to date. It occupies a prominent position and is almost on a scale that could challenge the large Amazon distribution centre next door.
The business is still looking at other markets that it could target, and both Douglas and Iain point out that interest in hire as a concept is set to grow further, especially given the rising awareness of environmental challenges and the need to optimise equipment procurement with maximum efficiency.
In many ways, GAP’s values sum up the best in our industry. It has been a privilege to report on the company’s growth and to get to know many of its excellent people over the years.
•
www.gap-group.co.uk
The Survey & Safety Division was established in 2014.
The new Tilbury depot is GAP’s largest to date. 9
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