TJ’s Shoreham depot is thriving!

Our new Shoreham depot opened its doors last summer and we’re pleased to share that it’s been an extremely successful six months!

We now have 10 vehicles operating out of the depot, and to get to that point, the first few months of operation focused on recruiting the right driving team to make that possible. The depot had to be set up from scratch and one of the most important parts of that was recruitment. 

South East Depot & Haulage Contract Manager, Dan Shortt is responsible for running the Shoreham depot. He said:

“We’ve done very well with our driver recruitment; they’re a huge part of what we’re trying to achieve and a lot of our success is down to them. We’re a small, tight-knit team of 11, who work very closely together to meet the needs of our clients and that will continue to be key moving forward.”

Dan has worked hard to grow the business by building upon relationships with our existing clients as well as establishing new business contacts too. We’re keen to let our existing customers know that we’re now operational in Sussex and that we’re able to offer our services in that area as well now. 

Dan added:

“The biggest challenge has been raising awareness of TJ in the Sussex area. We might be well-known as a Hampshire-based company, but getting the word out that we’re now operating in Sussex as well has taken some time. We’re pushing our old boundaries and our client base is growing steadily.”

In addition to the new clients that we’ve already secured, we’re also talking to a number of other prospective ones on a weekly basis. We recently undertook a large night shift job in the area, which historically would have been hard to manage from our Fareham HQ, but having the new depot made it more practical, and this has been fantastic for business.

One of the initial reasons for TJ opening a depot in East Sussex was to enable them to develop their working relationship with Tarmac, with whom they hold a five-year, multi-million-pound contract. This contract involves hauling aggregates and asphalt in the central south coast area on behalf of Tarmac, who are the UK’s largest supplier of construction materials. TJ is responsible for all of Tarmac’s haulage work in the areas between Brighton and Bournemouth, which equates to hundreds of thousands of tonnes of aggregates per annum.

Dan said:

“The contract with Tarmac is going really well; being closer to them has increased our ability to react to their needs much faster as well as fit in other work around our commitment to them. It has enabled us to work more closely with them at site level which has been crucial to our success and we’re hoping to continue this way of working long into the future.” 

The opening of the depot has also given Dan the opportunity to progress his professional development, which is something TJ is always keen to support. The additional responsibility of running the depot has allowed Dan to gain new skills as the role has several facets to it: ensuring the smooth running of the depot itself, managing the commercial aspect and gaining new business, running theon-site operations, and looking after the fleet.

If you’d like to know more about the Shoreham depot, or you’re a business in the Sussex area in need of aggregate supply or haulage services, please get in touch.