Renewables writes new chapter in story of horses, carts and heavy haulage

27/03/2012

A transport company which has its origins in making dairy deliveries by horse and cart is now among the cream of the renewables industry, delivering wind turbine components to sites throughout the UK.

Collett and Sons Ltd is now planning further expansion following the acquisition of additional space in Goole, which is the hub of its import and export activity.

The company, which was founded in Halifax in 1928 and expanded to Goole 80 years later, acted quickly to acquire a site of more than two and a half acres when it became surplus to requirements at RMS Europe Limited.

The fact that both parties knew each other contributed to the swift conclusion of a deal, with agents Garness Jones fielding a number of other enquiries.

“We had several strong enquiries for this site and demand was very encouraging, particularly in the current economic climate,” said Dave Garness, Managing Director of Garness Jones.

“The nature of the enquiries was such that we would expect to receive a lot of interest for similar sites in the Goole area if they become available.”

Mike Kirby, Managing Director of RMS Europe, said the site had been used for storing wagons and trailers and became surplus to requirements after the company moved the vehicles to one of its other facilities in the town.

“It was placed on the market and the deal was done within about two weeks,” said Mike, whose company provides shipping, stevedoring, storage and logistics services from Flixborough and Gunness on the River Trent and Hull, Grimsby and Immingham on the Humber.

Dave Collett, Managing Director of Collett and Sons, said the company outgrew its initial five-acre site at Mistral Point, close to the new site, soon after creating its marine division in 2010.

The business was founded by Dave’s grandfather, Richard Collett, who used a horse and cart to transport milk from his farm at Sutton, near Keighley, to the dairy. Milk remained the mainstay of the business, with the company serving the old Milk Marketing Board, until the 1970s when it expanded into general and heavy haulage.

Collett Marine operates shipping and chartering services between the UK and Antwerp, Rotterdam and Hamburg and has also used the Port of Goole to build its capability supplying wind turbine components.

“We don’t use Goole for all of our wind turbine imports because we work all over the UK and for some sites it’s just not right geographically,” said Dave.

“We use ports from Great Yarmouth to Blyth but we have been able to sell the facilities in Goole to our various partners. We’ve brought in a lot of business that might have gone elsewhere and we can see that continuing, so this new site will be a real asset.”

In addition to developing its services to the onshore wind industry, Collett Marine is now targeting the offshore operators.

“Goole is not in the ideal place for the offshore wind farms but a lot of the other ports we use are convenient,” said Dave.

“We’ve built up a good reputation supplying wind turbine components to the onshore industry and we’ve got the right contacts. It’s been the cornerstone of the development of our facilities in Goole and we’re actively working on applying our capabilities for the offshore sector.”