Logistics specialist AV Dawson is a company that’s going places.
Earlier this month the company launched its £6.5m automotive steel distribution centre – the single biggest investment in its history. The official opening of the 102,263 square foot centre marked the final phase of a £12.5m masterplan that has seen Dawson’s build a £2.6m intermodal rail terminal and a £3.4m deepwater quay.
The investments have positioned the company for future growth as it approaches its 80th year in a long and distinguished history. It has been part of the Teesside landscape since 1938, when 18-year-old Arthur Vernon Dawson launched the business by investing £50 in a horse named Dina, a cart and a load of coal. He sold the coal on the streets of Middlesbrough and operated from a small yard in Emmerson Street, Linthorpe.
From humble beginnings, the company expanded and evolved over the next seven decades – but it hasn’t always been an easy ride.
The recession-hit early 1980s was the most difficult period in the firm’s history. Its vehicle haulage fleet was cut from 60 to just 12 and the company only just survived. But the closure of British Steel’s Ayrton Rolling Mill in 1985 proved to be a major turning point. It allowed AV Dawson to purchase the mill in a move that transformed the company into a significant warehouse owner, working for companies such as ICI, Cleveland Potash and British Steel. During that period, a licence was gained to operate the wharf – another significant moment in Dawson’s evolution.
In 2000 Gary Dawson was appointed managing director to spearhead the company’s recent growth. It now employs 240 staff and is on course to break through the £20m turnover barrier this year. Its prominent position as one of the country’s leading logistics firms is certainly a long way from its humble beginnings and a horse called Dina!
AV Dawson timeline:
1938 – Arthur Vernon Dawson (known as “Vernie”) buys a horse named Dina, a cart and a load of coal for £50. Operating from a small yard in Emmerson Street, he starts selling the coal on the streets of Middlesbrough and AV Dawson is born!
1944 – AV Dawson buys its first lorry as four-legged horsepower is replaced by motorised horsepower.
1953 – The business outgrows its Emmerson Street base and establishes a new depot at Newport Road.
1956 – 15 year-old Maurice Dawson – Arthur and Eleanor’s son – leaves school and joins the business.
1965 – The haulage fleet gets too large for the Newport Road base and the company is on the move again, this time to a two-acre depot on Lloyd Street, close to the River Tees and the ironmongers’ district. It means the fleet is on the doorstep of many of the company’s customers, which include engineering firms and steel producers.
1971 – After completing an apprenticeship as a diesel fitter in the company’s workshops and spending several years as a long-distance lorry driver, 30 year-old Maurice Dawson becomes joint MD alongside Eleanor.
1973 – The company, which is now operating 45 lorries, moves to larger premises on Depot Road.
1980 – Maurice and Eleanor are now running a 60-strong vehicle haulage fleet. Small warehouses and industrial units are built to diversify the business.
1980-1984 – the recession hits the business hard. The fleet is cut to just 12 vehicles and the company teeters on the brink of closure.
1985 – British Steel’s Ayrton Rolling Mill closes.
1986 – AV Dawson purchases the mill in a move that positions the firm as a significant warehouse owner, working for ICI, Cleveland Potash and British Steel. A licence is gained to operate the wharf – another positive development for Dawson’s.
1988 – The refurbishment of the former rolling mill site is complete. With the laying of one mile of track it is reconnected to the rail network at Middlesbrough Goods Yard and renamed the Ayrton International Railhead and Store.
1990 – Arthur passes away.
1992 – 22 year-old Gary Dawson joins the company to develop the shipping side of the business.
1998 – The shipping business grows to a point where longer and deeper quayside is needed. The company purchases the former offshore module assembly yard, now known as the North Sea Supply Base, and wins a major contract to receive trains of steel from Corus’s South Wales mills for delivery to North-east processors and manufacturers.
1999 – Eleanor Dawson passes away.
2000 – Gary Dawson is appointed managing director.
2000-2015 – The company purchases several sites to support the growth of the oil and gas, container and renewable energy markets. Revenues are also boosted through the creation of a new group of companies in value-added activities such as steel processing, industrial coatings and trailer sales and hire. Now Dawson’s employs around 240 people, operates on a combined site terminal of 100 acres and is on course to hit £20m annual turnover this year.
No comments:
Post a Comment