Brit European Transport — 2024-07-26
Members Corner
Carmans Transport, as we were known in the early years, really did start with 1 horsepower! The first foray into transport was a horse-drawn milk tanker collecting milk from Cheshire farms to be taken to the local dairy for processing.
The business grew strongly under the second generation of the Carman family, Ron. From the mid 1960’s through to the mid 1980’s, the company was one of the first to pioneer unaccompanied freight across the channel supporting our armed forces European bases with essentials and taking a range of freight by road as far as Türkiye, Iran, Iraq, and the middle East. In the days before mobile phones and faxes this was some achievement!
From then onwards, the innovations started to move apace. From the 1990’s and into the new millennium we developed the first specialist glass carriers to carry large sheets of glass safely long distances from Europe to the UK.
Next came an evolution of the unaccompanied cross channel system to manage and delivery full rolls of carpet from the mills in Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg for distribution in the UK. Everything from a full load to an individual roll could be carried utilizing specially designed trailers and cradles with a truck mounted forklift to avoid any manual handling.
Brit European’s expertise in the automotive sector started in the 1980’s with MAN trucks and JCB. One had a need to bring product into the UK with its factory in Austria, and the other had a desire to expand its sales into Europe. By designing specialist trailers to carry ‘high and heavy’ products so started a journey which we are still on today.
By now of course, the business was under the stewardship of the third generation of the Carman family, Rod.
Graham Lackey then joined the business as Managing Director in 2008, and over the coming years we really developed our High and Heavy (Car, Truck and Van transportation) offering, by working with the likes of Mercedes-Benz, MAN, Porsche, Toyota, Honda, Jaguar Land Rover, Volvo, Iveco, VW, Gefco, Scania, BMW, Case New Holland and Ford.
Throughout our 100 years of innovating in the transport sector, Brit European has remained in private ownership with each of the 4 Chief Executive Officers/owners being hands on in the business. This consistency of management and an ethos of tailoring logistics solutions to each individual customer/market needs remains today in everything we do.
In 2023 we celebrated the opening of the Vita Nova Centre, a custom-built headquarters that will enable us to operate off-grid and with carbon neutrality within seven years. The site consists of several eco-modular buildings featuring enough solar panel technology and 3D printed wind towers to produce 60kW of renewable energy on-site. Alongside UK first electrical charging points powered by methane, rainwater harvesting and a major replanting scheme the aim is to return the local ecosystem to its pre-industrialisation state.
Graham Lackey, now CEO at Brit European, told us:
“We are incredibly proud of the pioneering development of the Vita Nova Centre, from the innovative construction techniques used to the ground-breaking charging technology we use, we hope the Centre will act as a prime example to other businesses of how new premises can be developed. We look forward to operating from the site and achieving carbon neutrality within the next few years”.
He continued; “I’m not one to look backwards as we can only change the future. The company has always embraced change and been willing to try new things which has suited myself and my way of doing business. I just probably do it in a more structured and controlled way! The industry, (transport), will go through more change in the next 10 years than it has since the invention of the diesel engine itself. Moving to a net zero environment will be incredibly demanding and the systems/technology to achieve this is not fully available yet.”
It’s a critical time for a critical industry, (in the UK PLC set up), and will sort out the men from the boys especially on the back of the Covid years. Our trucks, trailers and probably our customer base will look very different in 10 years’ time compared to where we are today. It’s never boring in transport and logistics!
Today we utilize some of the most technically advanced pieces of equipment operating on UK roads. Thousands of hours have been invested not only in the functionality of the equipment but on reducing its weight and minimizing the environmental impact of the materials utilized.
With this level of forward thinking and focus on detail, combined with an ecological awareness, and focus on using available technology in the best ways, Brit European Group is looking forward to driving innovation for the next 100 years!”