Serving the Teesside Business Community | 33
AV Dawson’s purpose-built
Automotive Steel Store.
The AV Dawson-owned quayside-
supporting offshore vessel.
An AV Dawson truck transports storage tank
sections through Ripon in the late 1960s.
The firm’s early explorations soon led
the company to sell the coal business to
concentrate on road haulage. AV Dawson
was now outgrowing its premises on
Emmerson Street, Middlesbrough, and
moved to a larger facility on Newport Road.
It wasn’t long before the business grew
further, moving to a new base on the town’s
Lloyd Street. It was in 1973 that AV Dawson
made the most significant move in its history,
acquiring a six-acre site on Middlesbrough
Wharf, later named Dawson’s Wharf, where
the business still operates today.
Soon after the move, Vernie stepped
down as managing director due to ill health,
passing it on to co-director and wife Eleanor,
who not long after, handed over the reins to
their son, Maurice Dawson.
By 1980 the site had grown to 11 acres
and the company had increased its haulage
fleet with the acquisition of haulage business
WG Thomas, raising its fleet to more than
60 vehicles. Major investment continued
with development of industrial units and site
infrastructure.
After the closure of British Steel’s Ayrton
rolling mill in 1985, AV Dawson saw the
opportunity to diversify, purchasing the
facility to store 20,000 tonnes of potash.
AV Dawson’s new facilities also garnered
interest from ICI who eventually used the
site to store bulk bags of fertiliser.
The business passed a pivotal point in
1985 when it acquired a much sought after
licence to bring the Middlesbrough wharf
back to life after being closed for many years.
1991 saw the completion of the company’s
first concrete quay and over the next seven
years the wharf grew substantially, handling
imports and exports.
It was only in 1998 that AV Dawson
purchased one of the most visible features
on the Teesside landscape by acquiring the
adjacent offshore fabrication yard, which
included the large fabrication halls. Today
the site is known as the North Sea Supply
base. This allowed AV Dawson to discharge
larger ships and extend its quayside to one
kilometre.
AV Dawson continued
to grow, welcoming in
the millennium with the
promotion of Gary Dawson
to managing director, with
Maurice taking on the role of
chairman.
Over the coming years AV Dawson was
to purchase several sites to support the
growth of the oil and gas, container and
renewable energy markets. Revenues
were boosted through the creation of a
new group of companies in value-added
activities. Today the business has three sister
companies including ships agency Cockfield
Knight, trailer sales and hire company Tees
Valley Trailers and steel processing facility
Millserve.
2015 saw the completion of a three-year,
£12.5m master plan which enabled the
company to grow by more than a third.
The three-phase plan included a £2.6m
intermodal rail terminal, which provides
freight firms with a direct link to the East
Coast mainline, and a £3.4m project to
extend its quay and dredge the river, creating
a deepwater quay which allows companies
to kit out vessels and ship wind turbine
components out to sea.
The final phase was the opening of its
£6.5m automotive steel distribution centre,
supporting Nissan’s just-in-time production
processes with rail and road transportation
and storage of steel coil.
The business continues to invest in its
growing facilities and in the last nine years
has invested over £30m in infrastructure but
will also be investing a staggering £11m in
just the next 12 months.
It is this investment, alongside values of
safety, integrity, family and resourcefulness,
as well as the continual development of its
employees, that has enabled the business to
continue to expand and diversify.
AV Dawson is a large source of local
employment, with more than 96% of its
employees being resident in the Tees Valley.
With such a high proportion of people
employed locally, the company believes in
80 years
of supporting
manufacturing supply chains
100-acre Tees freight
terminal on Riverside Park,
Middlesbrough
£30m+
investment in
infrastructure in the last nine
years
£11m
investment in the
next 12 months
96%
of employees are
Tees Valley residents
giving back to the community in which
it operates and is a big supporter of the
Middlesbrough and Teesside Philanthropic
Foundation.
The future is certainly bright for AV
Dawson, which prides itself on delivering
excellent service. This level of service has
seen the business establish partnerships
with major players including British Steel,
British Gypsum, Prysmian Group, Tata,
Nissan and Tarmac, to name just a few.
From delivering coal by horse and
cart to the company it is today, it will be
interesting to see what this stalwart of the
Teesside business community achieves in
the next 80 years.