backlash of the 80s recession, we
invested in credit insurance to give
us the commercial confidence to
grow rapidly,” said Reg.
“Wherever there’s
construction or demolition, there’s
a need for diesel and unlike
other markets, this one is not as
price conscious. When you need
200,000 litres a month to keep the
work going – a reliable fuel supply
is absolutely crucial.”
The challenges of working in
London
The introduction of the Ultra-
Low Emission Zone was a game
changer with many companies
not able to make the upgrades
needed – a catalytic converter
costs £14k!
“Plus, we have to pay the
congestion charge, London
insurance and London salaries and
with the average speed of vehicles
going through Central London
being 7mph, we have to charge a
premium. Due to the congestion,
the number of deliveries we can
make in in a day is less than other
areas.
“As long as we can mitigate
against noise pollution, I see
night time deliveries in London
becoming more common –
commercially it makes much more
sense.
“Our connections in London
are very strong because we offer
a unique service – we get the
product to our customers when
they want it, every time, all the
time,” said Reg.
“We will not let them down
whatever the time of year.”
“With penalty clauses
on many building contracts,
we delivered to the Shard
development 24/7 365 days for
three years with timed deliveries
that gave us a 15-minute window
to get in and off the site. That’s
what we specialise in – we’ve
done it for years, we’ve grown up
with it.”
New Era delivered to
construction sites for the
Olympics and is now working with
companies involved in projects
such as the creation of the largest
new village in London at Earls
Court, the Battersea Power Station
redevelopment, Cross Rail, HS2
and Canary Wharf.
“We work very closely with
any company that’s involved in
a big project. No-one can touch
us for service and customer
retention is huge. We have built
this business on our service,
credibility and history and we’re
not prepared to slash the price.”
Whilst working with these
companies in London, New Era
often tenders and wins work in
other areas of the country. Not
wishing to take trucks elsewhere,
the company is keen to work with
third party fuel distributors looking
for additional work in their own
region.
The housing opportunity and
working with third parties
“The indisputable shortage of
housing in the south east presents
a great opportunity, not only
to ourselves but to third-party
partners,” said Reg.
“Too many people are living
in B&Bs and there’s a lack of
affordable housing, meaning
around one million homes need to
be built over the next 10-20 years.
“The pie is big enough for
everyone to have a slice of the
action. Working together we can
contribute to building a supply
network where everybody wins;
nobody wins if partners become
competitive in the same market.
“We’ve built up trust with our
longstanding third party partners
and have no desire to poach their
customers, we’re just happy to
work alongside them to forge
relationships for the longer term
and we expect the same in return.
“We play fair and we bend
over backwards to deliver, we’re
not the cheapest but we do give
an excellent service. We have no
wish to drive down prices and our
premium service has a baseline to
which we strictly adhere.
Fuelling further growth
“I’ve put my energy into this
business for many years,” said Reg.
“We went through a tough
patch and I lost confidence in the
market, but when I noticed that
many of the older guys were not
prepared to spend the money to
keep up with the London’s Ultra
Low Emission Zone, this worked in
our favour.
“A new direction and
renewed enthusiasm rekindled the
enterprise and gave us the spirit to
drive the business forward. We’ve
taken a relatively small company
and turned it into a sizeable
business that is credible.
“I’m very proud of what
we’ve achieved. We’ve built a
company that services a real need
for which other companies are
willing to pay. We pay attention
to our customers who appreciate
and benefit from our service to
power their communications,
lighting, heating, machinery etc.
“My legacy is a business that
works – nearly 40 years of my life
have gone into this company and
we feed a lot of mouths.
“The type of company we
are and how people see us is
important to me – we want to
be seen to be doing the right
thing. We’re not greedy, we’re
about creating a business that’s
sustainable, one that looks after
its employees and plays fair when
supporting its customers.”
Reg, who sees 20 or maybe
50 more years left in fuels, has
three daughters – “if they would
like to join the business, the
opportunity is there.
“We’ve got the business
model right and the brand is
strong. With all this construction
keeping our business alive, we still
have a long way to go. Whether
we sell or continue to grow, I’ll be
around for a while yet.”
Next year will be New Era’s
100th anniversary when there
are plans to hold a party on the
Thames.
Company facts
In 2016 a new stronger branding featuring the Fuelling your success strapline was introduced. In that year New Era moved its depot and
warehouse operation to larger premises in Epping and opened a new larger office in Harlow to further assist with clients’ national delivery
requirements
There are 30 Euro 6 vehicles with 19 tankers stationed at Heathrow, Purfleet and Tonbridge. Good for emergency deliveries, a 1,000 litre
micro-tanker can even access an underground car park.
Accreditations are important with a FORS (Fleet Operator Recognition Standard) in Gold recently achieved. New Era is also approved by
Crossrail, BSI, Constructionline and RISQS with ISO 9001 and many others in the pipeline.
“With so much legislation relating to health & safety drivers, it’s important we show we’re at the top of our game,” said Reg.
New Era has 70 employees; equipped with a strong telesales team, there