Leadership Across Generations: - IAM

In 1875 Thomas Bourne began doing general cartage and delivering
coal, which was his core business until the 1940s. After
World War II the company moved into the removals business
following the death of Thomas’s son, and Bourne’s business was
taken over by his grandson, Stanley.
T. Bourne & Son Ltd. also provided coach hire, meat
deliveries, and general haulage services. As the business grew
it moved into an old brewery, which provided storage as well
as a yard for vehicles. When current Managing Director Eric
Bourne’s grandmother died in 1962 Eric joined the company and
the properties owned by Bournes were split among her children.
Over the next 15 years Eric’s father bought out his sibling’s property
interests and his younger brother Roy joined the company.
Eric and Roy both started at the bottom, driving vans, loading
furniture and gaining a wide range of experience in servicing
Bournes customers on the front line before moving into management
roles following both of their marriages and a new air of
responsibility. In 1968, as government restrictions on operating
radius were scrapped, Bournes took advantage by moving into
other markets and buying up competitors locally to increase
capacity.
In 1974 Bournes suffered a serious fire that damaged the
goods of many of its local customers, an event that prompted
Stanley (who felt he had let his customers down) to take a step
back from running the business to concentrate on a more customer-facing
role, undertaking home visits, providing quotes,
and overseeing moves. The fire also prompted Eric and Roy, now
handling the day-to-day running of the business, to move the
business from its town centre location to a new site on the edge
of town, where they constructed a purpose-built warehouse and
were one of the first companies to adopt the new containerized
storage system.
A Bourne truck, 1958
Over the next few years Bournes added two more warehouses,
more office space, and extra vehicle parking capacity, financed
by successful negotiation of haulage contracts to subsidize the
slow winter months in the removals industry. They bought up
smaller local companies throughout Kent and East Sussex and
began to grow their corporate client base.
In 1990 Bournes moved again as local traffic increased and
access became difficult, building a 26,000-square-foot office,
warehouse, paint shop, and vehicle maintenance facility on a
nearby commercial development. When the local auction house
closed down, Bournes saw an opportunity to develop a new
stream of business and opened its own auction house on the now
empty site. Sales continue today for antiques and general goods,
an additional service that many moving customers appreciate,
especially when downsizing for a move overseas.
In 1992 Bournes became a founding member of the UTS network
(now UniGroup Worldwide UTS), helping expand services
throughout Europe.
Just as their fathers did in their teenage years, Eric and
Roy’s children began working at the company during weekends
Working for a Family Company
Working for a family company has its benefits and its
downsides. As a teenager Leon Bourne vowed never
to join the family company after all the late-night calls his
father would receive from drivers. Now, this is something
he frequently experiences himself. When the name on every
uniform, every vehicle, and every box is your surname there
is a certain personal responsibility to make sure that you are
proud of what it stands for—and that often drives an attitude
of doing more than just “showing up” and “doing what
needs doing” than the average 9-to-5 job working for a big
corporation.
The whole company has a family feel about it, with a
relaxed but professional culture which has inspired outstanding
loyalty of service, with many staff having worked in the
company in excess of 25 years, says Leon.
The new generation at Bournes is fully aware they take
on the business in an increasingly tough marketplace, but
they know that the ability to adapt, innovate, and create new
opportunities will be key in a highly competitive market.
They are also eager to help the company develop in line with
the changes in consumer behaviour, embracing new ways
of promoting, selling, and delivering services and with a
renewed focus on its corporate social responsibility, particularly
with regard to its impact on the environment and its
responsibility to the people involved in the company.