BUSINESS INSIDER Truth be told

For this issue’s Business Insider interview, Ben Chambers spoke to CEO of Suffolk construction plant conglomerate, Tru7 Group, Guy Nicholls. The full interview can be seen on Demolition Hub TV.

QHow have the interest rate rises affected you over the last eight months?

Oh, dreadfully. Everything was going along great post COVID. We closed for three and a half weeks, then once they agreed that builders weren’t retailers, and they could open, it just took off. It was fantastic. Perhaps too busy in some ways. Our business has grown 40% year on year for the last four years. And then this year, the bank rate has just killed things and we’re just OK.

The problem I have, I only work at one speed and that’s flat out. Working at half speed, I really struggle to get motivated. We’re still very busy as a company, but we miss the last 5-7%, which is the margin.

QSix years ago, you went into demolition when you acquired Clarke Demolition

I grew up with the Clarke brothers. I went to school with two of them. My father was friendly with Mr Clarke senior, who started in 1953. They got in a pickle a few times and I lent them money and in the end I thought next time they get in a pickle I’m going to buy it. So we did, and I’m glad we did.

David Clarke, the former owner of the business who’s still with us as managing director, is a really good guy, a very smart chap who can go to meetings at the highest level. The only problem was when we bought the business, it couldn’t spell profit, so we had to give it a little bit of special treatment. But it’s been it’s been great having demolition as part of what we do. It fits in with our recycling business.

QWhat products do you have and what is your range?

We were in a serious discussion about this, this morning. A friend of mine, a big demolition company from South Essex called Downwell, they’re on some of the most fantastic tender lists. They do a lot of work for Transport for London, Crossrail, all these other great things. So I think we just need to look a little bit further. This year being a little bit quiet has actually given us a bit of a kick up the arse.

My son Jake’s in the business with me now. Obviously I’m not going to live forever and he wouldn’t want me to, I’m sure. It’s going to be his when I peg out, so he’s got to wear many hats.

QIt really is a story of three generations. Your father Percy started up the businesses in 1964 and you as a nipper were following him about...

The family were from Yarmouth in Norfolk originally and after the war there were 13 brothers and sisters. My father was a wheeler and dealer. He lived on a farm with his older brother and sister and when he was 13 or 14 he had to go to work and that’s how it was. And I was brought up the same. I always remember mum saying: “We’ve got to take these kids on holiday,” and my dad said: “Holidays are things other people have.”

I have to say I’ve taken that from him, my poor wife, I hardly ever go away with her, that will change a bit when I’m 60. The poor girl’s suffered with me for 44 years, but we’re still happily married.

We closed the business for three and a half weeks because of COVID, I was dreading that somebody had taken it home, then I thought I was going lose my business.

When we sold Fork Rent seven and a half years ago, I invested the money with UBS. Two weeks later I was told: “Your investments have dropped by over a third, do you want to sell everything?”

“No I don’t,” I said. “We want to be buying. I’m not selling it. There’s too much work gone into this.”

My wife said to me: “You’ll be 57 next month, don’t you think it’s time you start taking it easy and take some money out of the tin? Let’s go buy a house on Lake Como.”

Well after being at home for three and a half weeks then coming back to work, one thing became apparent very quickly, I will never retire. And even going to Lake Como later that summer when we were allowed to travel, what you’d get for five million quid was not worth buying anyway. So both things were back to normal service very quickly.

Jake’s here now and I’ve got a great right-hand man in Tony Marshall, who’s worked with me for 24 years.

QTell us about Jake

He did the motocross World Championship for 11 years. There was never any sign of him coming to work for us, he wouldn’t even come to the yard. And then all of a sudden he had a bad injury and a week later announced he’d love to come to work if that was all right with me.

He dislocated his hip quite badly. It was just one of those transitional moments in life for him, I guess. I think he likes the work even more than I do now.

QIs it a similar relationship to that you had with your father?

No, very different. I was with my dad every day after school, from when I was just about old enough to remember, shortly after nappies. He always had new Mercedes cars, the one thing he did spend a few quid on. I have a similar trait, I love cars. But I’d get so grubby I had to sit in the boot to go home. My mother used to say: “How did you manage to get him this grubby?” He said: “I didn’t get him this grubby, that’s him poking about.” And I had every school holiday with him apart from one when I was 14, which he reminded me of the day before he died.

He used to shout and argue all day long, then come home at night and have another argument and tell me where I’d gone wrong all day. But the relationship I have with Jake is very different. We’ve never had an argument since he came to work for us. With my dad, whatever I did was never any good or good enough. That was his way of making me try harder.

My father got into plant hire by accident. Arthur Clarke, the founder of Clarke Demolition, had a plant hire business and my father was a wheeler dealer, buying lorries and plant. He phoned Arthur Clarke, agreed a price for something and Clarke said: “Can’t I piss you about now, you’re out of your depth with that lot.” And my father’s immediate response was “Arthur you’ve just put me in the hire business.”

Everything we’ve ever taken on started as an absolute balls up. We got into tippers by accident because a local company aggravated us. We got into concrete because another local concrete/ aggregate supplier aggravated us. And that’s how we’ve always gone. I think, if I’m angry I’m at my worst... I’m at my most dangerous in business when someone pisses me off. Fortunately, it’s the old saying “Find a job you enjoy doing and you will never have to work a day in your life.” [Misattributed to various intellectual giants including Confucius in c500 BCE, Mark Twain (1835-1910) and in recent years, American salsa singer Marc Anthony].

I’ve never worked a day in my life.

QYou’re very hands on. Are you here every day?

I love it. I don’t get here very early in the morning. That’s one thing. My wife and I have got opposite timeclocks. I can be up all night watching TV, but she’ll be up at five o’clock every morning. My dad made me go to work at half six. I never liked it.

Five or six years after he died, the business grew quite big quite quickly. He didn’t like employing people, which is fine, but you restrict how much you can grow a business. But I don’t get here until nine o’clock in the morning. I’m awake at half-five, doing emails at half-six, talking to people at seven o’clock. I never close. I’m on 24/7, and that’ll always be like that.

QTell me about the number seven (Tru7)

It was my father’s lucky number.

He was very superstitious and all the vehicles he ever bought, new trucks or vans to rent out, he’d always tell the dealer: “Make sure that number plate doesn’t add up to 13.” He’d make it so clear to them. And the number of times people delivered a vehicle and he’d say: “What did I tell you about the number plate? It adds up to 13.” Whatever it was, he wouldn’t have it.

But his lucky number was seven. So that’s why it’s called Tru7. Trucks R Us 7.

And I think: “Has it been my lucky number?” I don’t know if I’ve had a lucky number, really. Even when things are off, I’ve only got one speed. I do like being flat out. I have a wage that pays my household bills every month, everything else gets reinvested into the business. That’s how we buy more trucks.

QI’ve just seen the brand new Volvo dumpers and an awful lot of Thwaites dumpers as well

I can confidently say we’ve got the youngest fleet in the UK; if anybody wants to challenge me on that, they’re more than welcome to. Our oldest eightwheel tipper is a ’22 plate, our oldest mixer, having its first test today, has already been sold and replaced. We’ve got a few 2020 plate diggers left because of supply chain issues. www.youtube.com/@demolitionhubtv

The manufacturers are all being very greedy with price increases. We’ll see where that one goes in the next few months. I think we’re in for some big decreases, and there needs to be. I think there’s going to be some contractors who won’t see the end of the year, who are unfortunately victims of circumstances, by which I mean how materials have risen. Cement went up 19, 20 quid a tonne again on the first of March. If contractors are on fixed price deals with house builders, they’re going to suffer unfortunately.

QA couple of years ago I invited you to the British Demolition Awards. Can you remember your reply?

Yeah: “Why would I want to be in a room with a crowd of people who are going to tell me load of lies?” But seriously, we’re very fortunate. We’ve got some lovely friends in demolition who we rent equipment and sell stuff to.

QWhat is the plan for Tru7 group and indeed Guy Nicholls? You tell me what the bank rate will be next year and I’ll tell you what the business plan is.

Now Jake is here, he’s only 33 years old and I actually think he’s even keener than I am, when I die he’ll have the business. And he doesn’t even like cars. Up until recently he drove a 30-year-old Toyota pickup.

I could live the rest of my life never going any further than backwards and forwards three miles to work, which is why you don’t see me at events. I just like being here.

We had our county show last week, sponsored it and put a stand on and all that goes with it. So I know the value of events. It’s nice to meet people. Whether or not I’ll go there for half a day next year, I don’t know. I just don’t like getting too far away from the job.

I love the construction industry. I’ve met some great people in this job. We’ve got 350 people at Tru7, or thereabouts. There’s all sorts and we’ve got a great team of people in that circle of trust. They’re all important to us.

QWe’ve heard a lot about business, but tell me about Guy. What’s your thing?

Do you know what? I still get excited seeing a new lorry or a new digger coming down the drive. I can remember when I was a kid, my dad had his first forklift and it went out on hire to a sheet metal fabricator. It came back after a month looking like it was 10 years old and he actually cried. But you just become hardened to the damage. We employ 350 people now so we damage our own gear every day, let alone third parties doing it. I just love the work. Can’t get enough of it.

QYou’re involved in a lot of charities, is that important to you? My father was always of a mind that we’re not oil barons or film stars but we’ve done all right; you’ve got to give something back. I’m very much like my father in most ways, not in every way, and we do it every year. We normally give one or two hundred grand a year away and now we’re trying to do it on a more local basis.

So now we’re just going to pick one individual thing to do. We’re going to have a BMX track built for the area we live in, Kesgrave, just outside Ipswich. It’s surprising how little can help people so much, it really is.