Fighting talk
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The freight now passing through Potto’s old station is being delivered by one of the three most recognised names in road transport. Anne Preston, MBE, talks about Prestons of Potto’s image, our continental cousins and her desire to meet Tony Blair. Story and pictures by Bob Tuck
Anne Preston must be one of the most recognised women in road
transport. Made an MBE for services to the transport industry back in
1987, she is still as keen as mustard to trumpet the cause of both the
RHA and the road haulage industry. ‘I have been involved in this
business for 40 years,’ she says, ‘and I honestly enjoy speaking up for
the grass roots of the industry. Because road haulage is still a male
dominated industry, I find myself introduced to some big names simply
because I am a woman.’
And as those she has been introduced to can testify, Anne Preston is not afraid to say her piece.
It helps the Anne Preston cause that the family road transport business she is chairman of – Prestons of Potto – is such a well-known concern. In a Sunday Times poll, Prestons of Potto was among the three most recognised hauliers in the UK.
If you have not been to Potto in North Yorkshire (just off the A19 trunk road south of Teesside) you have missed seeing a sleepy collection of houses surrounded by fine farm land with the backdrop of the North York moors. And Prestons of Potto’s transport depot entrance is one of the finest we have ever encountered.
The high standard of floral presentation is down to the efforts of Dennis Ward, who looks after the hanging baskets when he is not running to and from the local MoT test station. The effect impresses potential customers but Anne knows the company only keeps its reputation because of the high standard of service given by its 345 staff.
Those on the Preston payroll are now being asked to do all manner of things: ‘Last year our turnover grew by about 17%,’ Anne says, ‘but mainly because we have had to diversify into add-on services.’ As well as running warehousing and other admin functions, some Preston people now bend pipes – yes, you read that right.
Adding services is something that Anne Preston feels the UK industry has been pushed towards ‘simply because the country’s been flooded with continental operators taking our traffic’, she says. ‘It is impossible to compete with them – I am gutted with the price we pay for our fuel.’
To quote figures, Anne refers to a presentation given to the RHA conference this year by Paul Frampton on whether you would rather be a Spanish haulier or a British one. ‘Fuel is 20p a litre cheaper in Spain,’ she says, ‘so no wonder their gross margin is 21% while ours is only 8%. The rates on a five-acre piece of land are less than 10% what we pay and with 85% of the work force being registered as self employed, no wonder they are laughing at the Working Time Directive. And how can you introduce legislation on Health & Safety and then exempt owner-drivers – does their health and safety not warrant looking after?
‘The government is continually fobbing us off as to our problems yet we seem to have this habit of soaking up all the continental legislation – after adding more requirements to it – and then abiding by it all. In France they might cover the legislation in five pages but we will have 500.’
But what are the answers? ‘The number of people who are simply closing down and leaving the industry suggests – because of supply and demand – that there are still too many in transport in the UK. But until the government realises our difficulties, we will still have a huge problem in competing with the continental opposition. And the news just released that the truck toll tax plans have been shelved just makes things worse.’
It is not surprising that Anne Preston would love to invite Tony Blair to Potto. ‘I believe he cares about the country,’ she says, ‘and I would love to sit across the table from him and have a heart to heart about the industry.’
Whether such a meeting would make any difference is debatable but what about the RHA options? ‘The RHA and the FTA lobbied very well to get the best from, say, the Working Time Directive legislation but it does worry me – and I am a board member of the RHA – that we do not target one or two major issues and go after them strongly.’
What would she do? ‘I think the fuel protests around the country were wonderful,’ she says, ‘and I honestly feel the general public identified with our problems.’ When the Prestons of Potto road fleet is covering in excess of 15 million miles a year and fuel costs are 20p a litre – or just short of £1 per gallon – more expensive than (some of) the competition, it doesn’t take long on the calculator to realise Preston’s fuel costs just under £2 million more than a (Spanish) counterpart’s does.
Does such a realisation suggest radical action? ‘I do not like the word strike,’ Anne says, ‘but the road haulage industry has the power to get the message over. If people took a couple of days or so holiday – all at the same time – the government might stop and think.’
That sounds like fighting talk but it did take radical action to get women the vote. I was not around at the time but I gather such a change in government policy had been reckoned unthinkable. Me thinks Tony Blair should be looking up the route to Potto before Anne Preston really gets the bit between her teeth.
Established1936
LocationHQ at Potto, depots at Stockton, York, Wakefield, St Neots
No of staff345
No of trucks200+
No of trailers600+
Turnover£23 million
And as those she has been introduced to can testify, Anne Preston is not afraid to say her piece.
It helps the Anne Preston cause that the family road transport business she is chairman of – Prestons of Potto – is such a well-known concern. In a Sunday Times poll, Prestons of Potto was among the three most recognised hauliers in the UK.
If you have not been to Potto in North Yorkshire (just off the A19 trunk road south of Teesside) you have missed seeing a sleepy collection of houses surrounded by fine farm land with the backdrop of the North York moors. And Prestons of Potto’s transport depot entrance is one of the finest we have ever encountered.
The high standard of floral presentation is down to the efforts of Dennis Ward, who looks after the hanging baskets when he is not running to and from the local MoT test station. The effect impresses potential customers but Anne knows the company only keeps its reputation because of the high standard of service given by its 345 staff.
Those on the Preston payroll are now being asked to do all manner of things: ‘Last year our turnover grew by about 17%,’ Anne says, ‘but mainly because we have had to diversify into add-on services.’ As well as running warehousing and other admin functions, some Preston people now bend pipes – yes, you read that right.
Adding services is something that Anne Preston feels the UK industry has been pushed towards ‘simply because the country’s been flooded with continental operators taking our traffic’, she says. ‘It is impossible to compete with them – I am gutted with the price we pay for our fuel.’
To quote figures, Anne refers to a presentation given to the RHA conference this year by Paul Frampton on whether you would rather be a Spanish haulier or a British one. ‘Fuel is 20p a litre cheaper in Spain,’ she says, ‘so no wonder their gross margin is 21% while ours is only 8%. The rates on a five-acre piece of land are less than 10% what we pay and with 85% of the work force being registered as self employed, no wonder they are laughing at the Working Time Directive. And how can you introduce legislation on Health & Safety and then exempt owner-drivers – does their health and safety not warrant looking after?
‘The government is continually fobbing us off as to our problems yet we seem to have this habit of soaking up all the continental legislation – after adding more requirements to it – and then abiding by it all. In France they might cover the legislation in five pages but we will have 500.’
But what are the answers? ‘The number of people who are simply closing down and leaving the industry suggests – because of supply and demand – that there are still too many in transport in the UK. But until the government realises our difficulties, we will still have a huge problem in competing with the continental opposition. And the news just released that the truck toll tax plans have been shelved just makes things worse.’
It is not surprising that Anne Preston would love to invite Tony Blair to Potto. ‘I believe he cares about the country,’ she says, ‘and I would love to sit across the table from him and have a heart to heart about the industry.’
Whether such a meeting would make any difference is debatable but what about the RHA options? ‘The RHA and the FTA lobbied very well to get the best from, say, the Working Time Directive legislation but it does worry me – and I am a board member of the RHA – that we do not target one or two major issues and go after them strongly.’
What would she do? ‘I think the fuel protests around the country were wonderful,’ she says, ‘and I honestly feel the general public identified with our problems.’ When the Prestons of Potto road fleet is covering in excess of 15 million miles a year and fuel costs are 20p a litre – or just short of £1 per gallon – more expensive than (some of) the competition, it doesn’t take long on the calculator to realise Preston’s fuel costs just under £2 million more than a (Spanish) counterpart’s does.
Does such a realisation suggest radical action? ‘I do not like the word strike,’ Anne says, ‘but the road haulage industry has the power to get the message over. If people took a couple of days or so holiday – all at the same time – the government might stop and think.’
That sounds like fighting talk but it did take radical action to get women the vote. I was not around at the time but I gather such a change in government policy had been reckoned unthinkable. Me thinks Tony Blair should be looking up the route to Potto before Anne Preston really gets the bit between her teeth.
Richard Preston & Son
Established1936
LocationHQ at Potto, depots at Stockton, York, Wakefield, St Neots
No of staff345
No of trucks200+
No of trailers600+
Turnover£23 million
