Today, Tuesday 8th February 2022, we celebrate our 25th Birthday! So we asked one of our Directors, Debbie Tonks, to share their story of how they set up the business.
In September 1993 I started a job working for a Contracts Director I hadn’t met. Rather cautiously I remember arriving on my first day not knowing what to expect. I had no knowledge of the Temporary Traffic Management industry and knew nothing of the man I was about to work for. But I knew how to manage and organise, and that put me in good stead for my new job. Nigel & I made a good team working for APH (Clearway TM), for 3 years we dealt with all sizes and manner of jobs. But in November 1996 the group of companies (APH Holdings) went into receivership and unfortunately took Clearway too. We worked for several weeks helping the receivers to wind up the business, which was a sad and stressful time for both of us but a necessary thing to do.
Some months later, Nigel & I decided that maybe we could start our own traffic management business and make a success of it. We appointed an accountant and, on 3rd February 1997, Beaumont Traffic Management was registered as a limited company.
Setting up the business in my dining room in Redditch was a rather daunting task, especially as it was the first time I'd owned and run a business, with Nigel going out and organising the few small jobs that we had. Our business plan was set, our aims weren’t high, just enough work to earn a small income for the both of us and maybe in a year or so we might be able to have a couple of employees working with us.
It soon became apparent to us that we would need to take on a couple of employees sooner rather than later to help with the contracts that we were now getting.
During our 25 years, we have moved premises a couple of times and we have seen some employees come and go. We have been fortunate to have had the support of many people and their companies. I would like to thank those that have helped Beaumont Traffic Management to become the company it is today. In particular, I would like to thank those employees who joined our young company and are still with us today. Conrad Construction (no longer), and Allelys for their help and support. I would also like to extend our gratitude toward companies like Geoffrey Osborne Ltd, McNicholas Construction, McLoughlin Pipelines, Ringway Highway Services, and Tarmac Construction who gave us the opportunity to prove our worth in those very, very early days……..
Here’s to the next 25 years! Safe to say we've changed a lot since 1997!
We set about looking for our first depot, and we were offered an old Second World War generator house and yard area at Pershore Airfield, it seemed to fit the bill perfectly. We set about clearing the years of old rubbish and brambles, installing electricity, water, painting the building, etc, and getting a small portacabin installed to use as offices. It was all very much a family affair as my husband, 2 children and even some former work colleagues would often help out at weekends. We've managed to dig out some old photos to show this work being carried out.
(Original source: https://www.beaumonttmltd.co.uk/post/we-are-25)