The Business Village People "My business started by accident".

The Business Village People

This is a Pod One production. For more information, visit podone. co. uk. This is

the Business Village People podcast. Hello, I'm Davey Markwell, and welcome to the Business Village People podcast. This is episode five of series two. On this podcast, we showcase stories from the companies, service providers, and staff at the Business Village in Barnsley, South Yorkshire. Well, if you're ready, let's go.

In this episode of Business Village People For some business, compliance requirements can be easily overlooked or forgotten due to the fact that the people are too busy actually doing the job. We meet a chap who accidentally created a website that helps hauliers stay legal. Also, a man who admits his management style is not to everyone's taste.

So much so that his office is not even in the same building as his employees.

Lee Pritchard took the plunge and set up his own business just as the first COVID lockdown began. In four years since, Lee has established an award winning company providing transport compliance to the haulage industry. Here's Lee's story.

An interactive website, so it provides um, Features such as compliance guidance, there's industry news, um, there's networking opportunities, um, for various things. It keeps, uh, operators compliant with regulations, uh, connected with the industry. And we're developing it all the time, um, so it's one of those where we've just added, um, other features to it, which includes fleet management.

Um, so, operators can send me their, um, service records, um, we upload that onto a fleet management system, so we can keep a close eye on them, make sure that they're, you know, they're, they're keeping legal and compliant. So it's, um, it's very interactive, um, but it is brand new. Um, we're, we're very sort of in its infancy, if you like.

So we're adding new features, we'll, we'll keep on growing, and hopefully it'll, um, it'll provide a good platform for, for many operators in the future. So where did the platform come from? Did you create it or is it part of a franchise or? Yeah, it literally is. We, I created it, um, by mistake to be honest, and I will be honest.

So originally it was a conversation with a website developer. Um, and I literally asked, um, could we upgrade in, you know, update our website? And we had a good chat for about two hours, which wasn't, you know, scheduled. And all of a sudden, we come up with this platform where it was like, Okay, we'll not So we do our current website, we'll create a new website.

So we do have two websites. Um, one predominantly sort of telling everybody as a consultancy what we do. But then we have the Hawleyers Hub, which is obviously the interactive website. Um, so yeah, it was created by a mistake, but, but I love it and, and what it stands for. And, you know, we've got some good guys on there at the minute that are really seeing the benefits of it.

Um, so, so yeah, that's, that's where it is. Well, it was a big mistake, but not a big mistake, if you know what I mean. Mistakes can turn out good, can't they? You know, you learn from them. Yeah, we love it. I mean, I do. And, you know, like I say, it's getting updated every day and we keep on top of it. Um, but I've had a meeting this morning and, you know.

You know, a client's coming this morning. He just said, I'm loving it. You know, he's interacting with it because many operators, you see, and what we're finding is, is they're not transport people, so they struggle with a compliance side of things. And some of them are, you know, so run an operator license where they don't need a transport manager.

So this kind of platform creates that kind of interaction where they can go onto it, find out what they need and they can book a call with myself as well. So it's, it's, yeah, it's, it's really good. I'm passionate about it. I love it. And, you know, especially when you see it helping people, that's, that's, that's what we're trying to achieve.

Where did it all begin? What did you want to be at school? When I left school, um, I PE teacher. So that worked out really well, didn't it? You know what I mean? Um, yeah, I was always into sport when I was growing up. Um, bit of background in rugby league as well. Um, but yeah, I always wanted to do that. But kind of fell into this as you do.

Um, you know, you find your way. Um, I mean, four years ago, I was a transport manager at a company. Um, but always sort of had the inkling of, What would it be like going on my own? Could I, could I do this? You know, um, You know, I had doubts, don't get me wrong, but been thinking about it for a while. And lo and behold, um, You know, I don't know what come over me, but decided to do it when COVID hit.

Which I'm thinking, what on earth are you doing? And people did question it. Um, but four years later, here we are and I'm loving it. Yeah, I really do. Um, the variety is what we're after. You know, being on your own, you get into different things, you're seeing different people, different operators. Whereas when you're a transport manager, you're kind of stuck in the, you know, day to day, you know, same company, um, same office and things like that, which, which is fine, don't get me wrong, it's, there's nothing wrong with that, but I did fancy a change and, and I love what, I love what I do now, I really do, yeah.

It is quite nice, isn't it, being your own boss and, and just Doing what you want without some monkey around your neck. That's it. Telling you, you've done it wrong, or this is what you should have done, or why hasn't it done. Yeah, and it is because what this gives me is to be able to focus on my own thing.

I think it gives me that experience as well of when you're dealing with different businesses and different operators, you know, you're kind of educating yourself as well, so you never stop learning. But when you're stuck in, I suppose in one company, I was finding myself that you become very good at what you do there, if you like, but when you're seeing other industries within road transport, then you can sort of put your experience onto other people and help them.

So I just love helping people. That's, that's the key. And, you know, I enjoyed, I used to do a lot of training with drivers and things like that and just helping drivers and stuff. And this is where we're at now. That's where the platform were built. Um, just trying to help these road operators just keep legal and compliant.

Have you ever been a lorry driver? I have. I was a lorry driver. Um, I was, um, I was up and down the road. I did days, nights, um, tramping as we call it. So we stayed out on a night. Um, so, so yeah, so it was, it was good grounding really because obviously understanding drivers when you're training, when you're talking to them, when you're managing, um, transport, um, yeah, they've got a tough gig to be honest, they've got a tough job and on days like this where it's blustery and windy outside, I'm glad I'm stuck in an office today to be honest.

So what kind of training do you provide for drivers or? Yeah, we provide a variety of different training. So we do bespoke training. Um, some of it's, um, daily walk around checks. Um, we do driver assessments. Um, we do load safety security for transport managers. Sometimes that's more consultancy. So going in there and just, you know, supporting them, just helping them with the legal and compliance side of things.

So, um, we've got online training. So we have kind of bite size training that covers the intricacies of break testing with vehicles, um, drivers, hours and tachographs. So again, that's probably aimed at more your operators that are not Just general transport managers, but they're operators that know very, very good about what they do, but not sort of the legal and compliance side of it and the operator license undertakings.

You've won an award recently, haven't you? We have, um, Transport Management of the Year, which we're delighted about, yeah, yeah. We've won it two years in a row. So it was Does nobody else apply for the award? That's what I was thinking, to be honest. I mean, I got a phone call this first time in 2023 and it was, it was just crazy because there were a couple of my clients put me forward and, and that was nice, you know, just kind of, it, it's kind of a pat on the back, really, to say, you know what, we're doing something right, you know.

Uh, because we're such a small business as well, so you, you, you, you know, you don't really, Are you doing well? Are you doing okay? Um, but yeah, it was good. And then we, we won it again. And we got a nice gold trophy this time. So, we're doing all right, aren't we? Do you get to keep them all if you win it three times?

We have. We've got it in the corner of the office. Um, so, you know, let's, let's hope that that's what we do again third year. What do you do, Lee, when you're not stuck in your lovely little office? What do you do in your spare time to chill? I don't have much spare time. Um, but I spend a lot of time with my family and I like, I do like, you know, getting in the gym and working out and it clears me out a little bit, to be honest.

Um, and, um, and yeah, I'm into my sport. I do like my sport. What particular? Rugby League. Rugby League? Rugby League? Up and under? Yeah, been brought up on it, you know, I didn't have much choice to be honest, because my dad was a professional rugby league player. Oh, right. Who did he play for? He played for various clubs, he was at Doncaster, Halifax, had a time in France as well.

Um, so, um, so yeah, I got sort of shoved into it. Yeah, no choice on that one. Not a choice, no. No, absolutely not. Do you actually have any vehicles? No. We don't operate vehicles. It's purely consultancy, training, and supporting those guys that do operate vehicles. That's all, that's all we do. We're not, we're not, we'll not go down that route, to be honest, because, like I say, I, these guys do a wonderful job and I'll let them do their bit and I'll do my bit, to be honest.

You'll look after them? I'll look after them all day long, absolutely. How can people contact you to find out more about yourself and the business? Yeah, we've got various social media, um, so we're on Facebook, um. We're on LinkedIn. Um, we do, um, We post a video every week on YouTube, so we do a bit of a question and answer, um, theory on YouTube.

Um, still, you know, getting used to that in front of the camera, which I'm, you know, it's a bit difficult. But, um, the best format really to contact us is probably via the website. So we've got two websites, but if people want to get in touch with us, www. hawleyishub. uk or www. transportldp. co. uk Your first name's Lee.

Your surname's Pritchard. What's the D stand for? Darren. Middle name. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Darren. Absolutely. LDP. Bit original, isn't it? You know? Yeah. Yeah. Um, but LDP transport. Yeah. That's us. Lee, Darren Pritchard. Brilliant stuff, Lee. Thank you for your time and all the success and, uh, we'll catch up in the future and see how you're doing, if that's all right.

Yeah, absolutely. Fantastic. And keep up the good work with the podcast. Brilliant. Thank you. At least somebody likes it.

This is the Business Village People podcast. When John Beecher left school, all he dreamed of was finding a job where he had to wear a suit all day. Today, he runs one of the country's leading repair services, wearing just jeans and a polo shirt. This is John's story. We're a claims management company working as an outsource service provider for insurance companies, um, brokers, hire companies, uh, in the management of fault and non fault accidents.

Say that in English. No, it's all right. Yeah, so So, basically When you, when you crash your car Yeah. Uh, and you ring your insurer These days, insurers outsource that entire process of repairing your car, taking it to a body shop, providing you a replacement vehicle. They outsource that entire process to people like us, and we manage that process for insurers and other people, basically.

So how do you know where to send the vehicles? If, do you have a preferred list? We do. So we have a, uh, a contractor network list of roughly between 150 and 200 body shops across the UK. Um, we've worked with them for many years. I've been in the industry 25 years, so a lot of them are long standing relationships.

Um, we use small to medium sized businesses, so still the businesses with the owner operator, so the name's above the door. Because it makes such a difference in the quality of service that gets delivered. So we don't use your juggernaut corporations. Um, we still like to deliver that, like, localised service for the client wherever they are in the UK in reality.

What's the process? Does an insurer's company get in touch with you and say we've got a Ford Fiesta that's knackered? So again with the advent of IT integration, etc, we get a notification via API, so data transfer from the insurer, and then they transfer the client over to us. We then manage the process that from that point forward.

So we identify what damage is on the vehicle. Is it roadworthy, unroadworthy? And so we then appoint the appropriate repairer and Dependent on the severity of the damage, the type of vehicle it is, the manufacturer of the vehicle, uh, the composition of the, um, the metals within the vehicle, et cetera, such as aluminium, um, such as EV, uh, and lots of other complexities around the repair of vehicles these days.

Would you, would you do jobs for the public generally? Could, could somebody that's not part of an insurance company get in contact with you? In short, no. Um, we, we, we're B2B. So we take claims directly from businesses that have sold policies or are managing claims. A person on the street who has an accident has the right to choose who they want to manage their claim.

So if somebody was involved in an incident and it was a non fault for instance, they could contact us directly. We could manage that entire process for them without them having the need to go through their own insurance company. Therefore they wouldn't have to pay their excess etc. However, if they're involved in a fault incident, the insurer.

If I'm really honest with you, the Bully Boys, they kind of force you down the insurance route. Um, so they want you to go through them directly. So, instead of us trying to attract clients directly to us, we're a B2B organisation in reality. You mentioned that you've been in this industry, this business, for over 22 years.

How did you get into it? What did you want to be at school? What a question. Right. Um, well, come from a family of decorators. So my dad's business was, he was a painter and decorator, um, very good one. Um, I've got four brothers, um, and as I was growing up, most of them went to work for my dad. Uh, and, and before I left school, um, as you do when it's a family business, you were working for my dad.

But I just, it was one of those where I wanted to do something else, so. The one, the one thing I had was I wanted to go to work in a suit, didn't want to go wear overalls. That was the only criteria I had when I was going through school and ready to leave school to go to work. Um, so ended up, um, in working for Auto Windscreens, um, in Chesterfield, uh, as in sales.

And then from there, I've then always been connected to the automotive and the insurance, uh, and the body shop world in reality. And so, worked my way up through the corporate ladder. Uh, until a few years ago, decided to do it for meself. And is this your business? It is, yes. Just yourself? Uh, no. So, there is 20 of us in total.

So we have this office here, and we have an office over in Manchester, and we have one in Liverpool. And why did you pick the business village to set your Barnsley office up in? Um, well, Cost, if I'm honest, at that point, so we had some dedicated officers in Churchfield Court in the centre of Barnsley, two storey building.

The industry has reduced in size slightly from the number of claims which is happening due to effects of COVID, the aftermath of that. Um, the, the industry's leveling out. What are you saying, people are driving better? Because of Covid? Definitely not. Absolutely not. Crying out loud, you should see some of the sights, sights we see.

No. Um, but with the, we are in a, coming out of a recession, or been in a recession. So the impact of that has a major impact on our industry, because people just don't drive as much. They get rid of second and third cars. So there's a huge impact on us, so our volumes have dropped, um, and then with the advent of remote working and hybrid working as well, it makes it easier to actually not have as much officers.

So we have, um, ten people based in the business village, uh, and then remote workers and then the two other officers as well that I have over in the Manchester side. Which is where more of the claims and insurance sector is based in reality. So you get a lot of the experience over there. We kind of run a shared services function from the Barnsley office.

And what's it like being, being a leader, a manager of staff at the current Tea Cake? Wow. Yeah. Um, uh, I found out a few years ago that I'm a really bad manager. So I don't. Manage very many people directly. So I have a good management team in place. They manage the people, I manage them. Um, and I found over the years that that works better for me.

Uh, I'm better doing the business stuff and doing the relationships with the clients and the B2B side. Uh, in my terms, what I see is I make the phone ring. I then have a team in place that actually then manage the claims and manage that process. Well, that's good management, isn't it? It's, you know, it's, you know.

You're crap at management. Yeah, absolutely. At least I realised that. But you've realised that, and you've set the business up in a way that makes it work. Yeah, and to be fair, that does work. But I must admit, moving into the business village from where we were, Transition from those offices were very simple, very easy, very welcoming, really good service that we get here.

And everybody's loved it to be fair. It's a really nice place to operate from, um, nice surroundings. Uh, so it's, it's been really good for the business. So where's, where's the rest of them then? Because there's only you in here and your golf clubs. Yeah, I hide them in the filing cabinet. No, so we have another office in building one.

Uh, which is, which is the main operational office. Uh, this is, this is my office and meeting room. Um, so we, we run it separately like that, because again, me being in the, in, in the main office, I just cause carnage and cause problems for everybody else. So they kind of kick me out and, and, and want me in a draw out of the way.

What's the future for the business? Interesting question. A lot of challenges within our industry. Um, we go through a cycle as a business. We grew to 40 people ish. Uh, and then we've downsized a little bit. We're basically regrouping at the moment, consolidating a little bit, and then we'll go again. So we will start to grow again because you just naturally win business when you are good at what you do.

And we are. Good at what we do within our niche, within the market. There's not a huge amount of players that do what we do, so we're in a decent position. And because I've been around a long time, I'm getting a bit older, um, I've got quite a lot of contacts within the marketplace. So it's kind of like them doors open a little bit easier when you've been around a while and you know a few people.

It's really interesting when I've been doing these interviews to find businesses like yours that I never thought existed or knew existed. No, absolutely. I just thought it went, you know, the insurance company sorted it all out. Insurers are great at selling the policy. They don't have the expertise anymore to do anything else.

Yeah. other than sell the policy. They're a nice, shiny website. They have nothing in the background. They used to do it all themselves. And they outsourced it all. They got rid of it all. It's very difficult then to get that skill set back. Because it's a very, very complex industry. Uh, and that's where we come in.

So we fit that niche and it works really well. So where's the suit? Ha ha ha ha ha! They don't wear suits, crying out loud. I've not worn a suit since 1976. Ha ha ha ha ha! How come people get in contact with you, John? Um If people want to get in touch with us, um, we have a 24 hour, uh, helpline in reality, um, but get in touch with us here, walk in, ask at the desk, speak to us around about, no problem.

We're always happy to help anybody, whether that's a fault incident, non fault incident, or just need some advice over something. We're more than happy to give anybody any help. Our business is Blackthorn Repair Management. Our website is blackthornnetwork. co. uk. And where's the name Blackthorn come from?

Um, Too much red wine. And a brainstorming session. Um, Blackthorn is a, uh, a gin berry. Slow gin berry. Uh, so that's basically where he came from. However, didn't realise at the time it was also a cider. So, so not quite as That's, that's where he came from. Lovely. John, thank you for your time. More than welcome.

Very nice.

This is the Business Village People podcast. If you've enjoyed your time with us, please share the podcast with your friends. Your support helps us grow and reach more listeners like you.

For all the latest news from the Business Village, subscribe to our free newsletter at business village. co. uk

I'm David Markwell, and this is a POD ONE Creative Production. Never miss an episode of the Business Village People podcast. Simply subscribe and follow from wherever you get your podcasts.