Eleven businesses based in Ealing have been shortlisted in 11 categories at this year’s West London Business Awards which take place later this month at Twickenham Stadium on 24 February 2023.
Palletways London based in Greenford is one of the businesses to make it to the shortlist in the category: Logistics Business of the Year.
EALING.NEWS caught up with Colin Sturgess, general manager, to find out more about what it means to be shortlisted, being based in Ealing, challenges they face and future plans.
What it means to be short listed?
Palletways London is very proud and honoured to be shortlisted in the WLB Logistics of the year award 2023. This achievement reflects all the hard work Palletways London team members have done over the last four years, and their commitment and enthusiasm to make our business a real success story. We are particularly pleased as we have had to deal with the challenges of Brexit and Covid along the way. However our London team was not phased by this, and went above and beyond to give service excellence to the Ealing business community through these tough times.
What does being based in Ealing mean to you?
Being based in Greenford, we consider this to be a real benefit, as we have a lot of business opportunities as there is so much industry around the Ealing area for our sales team to work within and gain new business. This is an ideal depot location for our logistics business; our drivers have easy access to the A40, and this gives us a direct route into our delivery areas within NW & West London, and also out of London on to the M25 & M40 .
What are the challenges you face as a business in Ealing?
The biggest challenges we face in and around the Ealing area relate to the state of the roads and traffic congestion. The potholes, cracks and bumps in the road are appalling, and seem to be frequently patched up rather than proper repairs being carried out. This results in the same areas of road being constantly dug up, particularly around our depot. Roadworks traffic lights cause huge delays, particularly at rush hour and school opening and closing times, and on several occasions our local area has become gridlocked. It is also difficult to make retail deliveries in the area due to the lack of suitable places to park. We accept parking restrictions are essential but more areas allowing for loading and offloading would be very helpful.
What can Ealing Council do for you to help your business?
Better communication directly to businesses in the area regarding local roadworks with times and locations would be really useful. We used to receive this information from Ealing Council at one time, but this no longer happens. This gives us the opportunity to allow for lower productivity from our drivers during the roadworks period, and to arrange for the back gate to our estate to be opened for light vehicles, thus reducing congestion in the immediate vicinity. Roadworks carried out outside the main rush hours would also be extremely helpful where possible.
What can the government do for you to help your business?
The government need to have a clear policy to monitor profit levels of the huge oil conglomerates to ensure that businesses are not being forced to pay huge amounts of money unnecessarily for essential items such as fuel, power etc. If the government is serious about electric vehicles being the delivery method of the future, then there should be significant assistance with the cost of the charging points, as this is a huge investment, which combined with the additional cost of the vehicles, makes it difficult in the current environment for businesses to afford.
A year from now, where do you see your business?
I see our business continuing to grow at a steady pace within our infrastructure and developing new business innovation to offer to the Ealing business community. Being the largest pallet-network depot in London we expect to continue giving service excellence and a cost effective solution to our members and the Ealing Business Community. We also expect home deliveries to be a big growth area within our delivery profile.
What are you most proud of so far in what your business has achieved?
What I am most proud of so far is the growth and the service we are now able to offer, and the attitude of our whole team, who have been genuinely enthusiastic to help turn the depot around over the past 4 years since I joined the business as General Manager. We took a failing depot and made it into a centre of excellence, making a healthy profit year on year for Palletways UK.
Palletways London is located at Unit A Tera 40, Auriol Drive, Greenford, Middlesex, UB6 0TP
