25th february 2003
GRIMETHORPE COMPANY GOES FOR IT!

A company established in the Acorn Centre, Grimethorpe, providing local warehousing and distribution services, has proved a home-grown success story, doubling its turnover in the last two years and creating 17 new jobs for local people.

Francis Transport Services (FTS) was established by Roy Francis and his sons Paul and Mark in 1998. The company initially had two employees and a 700 sq ft incubator unit at the Acorn Centre. Five years on, the company is searching for new premises for the third time as sales continue to grow.

RFT first moved into 6,000 sq ft of space in phase II of the Acorn Centre when its expansion process had seen staff numbers increase to 10. It then moved into the former Sash Building on phase III of the site, more than doubling its unit size to 25,000 sq ft.

But business has continued to boom and the operation is now looking to build its own warehousing facility in Grimethorpe. Roy Francis commented: “I was born and bred in Grimethorpe and I’m glad to be able to work here with other local people and put something back into the economy.


“We started with just a three tonne truck and we’ve expanded slowly and carefully and now operate 17 vehicles. We deliver all over the UK and into Europe with clients based not just locally, but as far afield as Stockport and London.”

Good transport links from Grimethorpe to the major motorways, offering access all over the UK and abroad, was one of the reasons that encouraged FTS to set up locally.

John Heckingbottom of the Acorn Centre said: “This just shows that Grimethorpe is a great place to do business from. It is excellent to see a local family willing to give it a go and with such superb results. We are delighted to see just how far FTS have progressed and are sure they will continue to go from strength to strength.”

According to the Francis family, the secret of their success is never letting customers down. Roy explains: “We always try to do a better job than the customer is expecting. We deliver and pick up exactly when we are asked to and at a reasonable price.

“Because of this, a lot of our business has come from recommendation, but we never stop looking for new contracts – in fact one of our newest customers is local company, Mid Bulk, which has just started in production at Park Springs, Grimethorpe.”

FTS delivers a huge range of different products from pharmaceuticals to copper fittings, kitchen appliances to racing pigeons! “We pride ourselves on never losing anything,” said Roy. “We have good stock control and have invested in satellite tracking for our vehicles – the racing pigeons do have to find their own way home though!”

For more information on the Acorn Centre and available units contact Shaun Higginbottom at Grimethorpe Regeneration Executive on 01226 716700 or shigginbottom@barnsleydevelopmentagency.co.uk




Back to main Press Releases page

If you require any further information please email us.

Barnsley Development Agency
Beevor Court, Pontefract Road, Barnsley S71 1HG
Telephone: +44 (0)1226 784444

© 2003