Bender:
I did quite a bit of work for Tesco at Snodland when I was last driving (about 5 years ago), it’s all Mercs now, very basic spec, and not an endearing motor.
It was a shame that most of the drivers were agency (including me) and that nobody kept their ‘own’ unit. Unsurprisingly they were filthy inside, you felt like you needed gloves and overalls on just to drive them.
I started out as agency on Tesco but got that new Scania the very first week, about 50% of drivers at Kiln Farm were agancy, I was taken on by Tesco as a company driver within a year and transfered to Brackimills for 1996/97 where I was assigned shunting duties, not to brag or anything but I was always extremely good at reversing which is why they asked me to do that job, trouble is I was too damm good ! On my shift they had just me and on the other shift they had 2 because I could clear all 18 bays and replace the trailers every hour. I started shunting early in life for Swifts before I even held a licence so it came as natural to me but after about 9 months I got fed up and changed to doing a trunk and that got boring so I quit to do european show work.
Tesco for a company driver was very boring and thats what I told the HR woman when she asked why on earth I wanted to leave such a secure job ?
Funnily enough Pat that’s exactly why I left ADL (formerly Geest) it was easy money but incredibly boring, and the 4.30am starts were killing me. I took a huge cut in salary and went back into the landscape maintenance industry but as a contracts manager. That was never boring but extremely stressful and bl**dy hard work. Maybe I should have stayed put!
In the old days before site risk assessments and being provided with route instructions, most of the Sainsbury’s stores were referred to (even on the delivery envelope) as ‘London Road’ ‘Gillingham’ ‘Forest Hill’ etc…
On a number of occasions agency drivers went over a hundred miles in the wrong direction before someone realised that things weren’t going according to plan…
LONG LIVE FINE FARE…SADLY DEPARTED…R.I.P.
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Hi Gasman, good to hear from an old FF driver! When I took my ERF to Gaydon show a few years back I spoke to 3x old Gloucester drivers who all said the same as yourself and were getting misty-eyed It’s true to say the majority of people I’ve spoken to at shows were more interested in it being an old FF unit, rather than it being an ERF per se.
IIRC, EUR 320Y was originally based at Hucknall (driven by Ken Richardson) and then must have been transferred to EK around 1986 because it had been repainted into the new blue/grey FF livery just prior to the takeover by Gateway, and FF was still sponsoring the Scottish Premier League at the time and the ‘brand’ was kept on in Scotland for a bit longer. Hucknall also had 319Y & 325Y. Gloucester depot had 315, 317 (and possibly 318?) on Sed Atki 401’s there. Were any of their motors sent to EK?
Luckily for us, my dad’s motor missed out on the blue repaint so he got to keep it as it was painted into Gateway’s green.
Why did FF go?.. I suppose in the harsh light of day, such favourable conditions for employees were going to seem extravagent as the 1980’s continued. My recollection of the business style was of a cosy, family-type atmosphere, where profit seemed not so important as doing a job well. FF also seemed to suffer from a problem many early innovators have, which is the inability to fully capitalise on having new ideas first - FF introduced Aldi-style neighbourhood stores (Shoppers Paradise), bargain own-brand lines (Yellow pack), pack-your-own lines, high street coffee shops, hypermarkets - all ideas taken on and improved by others
I’ve got shed-loads of photo’s, fleet lists, etc in my attic including some of EUR 320Y. I’ll post 'em up when I can.
gcr2erf,
also had eur321 known as dusty bin, one or two daf and i think we had 2 atki’s, when we started on the blue colour it was on the erf then they sprayed the day cab scanias. with your own made up fold down beds , such luxury at that time. Shoppers stores were mainly all early morning deliveries { 6 am} as they were mostly on the high street, but you usually got your cheap message bag for your trouble , you also got this every week in the depot £3 each for a message bag and a booze bag what a bargain. also doing transfers from store to store earned you a slab of beer or bottle of spirits from the manager. aye great days but suppose had to come to an end when it changed hands and the transport went to brs. think the next reunion could be Feb or March.
It’s true to say the majority of people I’ve spoken to at shows were more interested in it being an old FF unit, rather than it being an ERF per se.