The story of Alan Pike
Alan Pike is one of our longest standing employees. If he were a piece of rock, he’d have Gregory written all the way through him! Below we look at Alan’s journey with Gregory Group.
The beginnings
Alan’s father Cecil began his Gregory story when he worked at North Tawton as a driver in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. Alan would be known to bunk off school and help his Dad, and he’d often accompany him on a Saturday to go to the yard doing odd jobs or polishing the vehicles.
The start of working life at Gregory Group
Ahead of his 18th birthday, Alan asked for a job. Whilst he had learnt to drive a truck in the hay fields, he wasn’t officially old enough to drive for the company, so he worked in the warehouses initially. He recalls how weighing out the coal was the worst job due to the heavy, and very grubby, lifting required. But he got the job done and due to the many years he’d been watching and listening, Alan’s knowledge of all things Gregory was really quite vast. This gave him the opportunity to support Gordon Gibbins, the Transport Manager. Gordon taught him the ins and outs of running a fleet and one day presented Alan with “The Book” and told him he might not be in tomorrow. What he meant was that he was going on holiday and wanted Alan to take the reins! “The Book” was the bible of which lorries needed to go where and it was a real honour to be given this responsibility.
At 21, Alan took his HGV licence. He passed first time which was lucky, because there was a driving job waiting for him the moment he returned to the yard!
Two years later, he had his own vehicle and embarked on long distance work. Alan remembers these days with fond memories. When he first started out, the cabs didn’t have beds so they would stay in “digs”. (Alan had a book of the digs that were good, and the ones that weren’t.) He recalls how a trip from Devon to Scotland would take a week and how, if a return load was cancelled, it would be a last minute job to find a new one. He’d trawl the transport equivalent of the Yellow Pages, together with the Transport Manager, to find someone that needed something transporting.
Returning to base
In the mid-80s, his wife (who he met whilst she was working at a Gregory customer’s site!), hurt her back, so long-distance driving became a challenge with family life. Alan returned to local driving and shortly after, came off the road to help out in the Transport Office. Forty years later, Alan is still here, now working two days a week!
Quick fire questions
Alan has seen and done so much in Gregory Group it’s nigh on impossible to capture it all, so we came up with a few quick-fire questions to help give us some snapshots.
- How many times have you travelled to work?
I’ve always been lucky enough to walk to work. Having calculated it, I must have walked to work over 10,000 times!
- Do you have any funny stories from your time at Gregory Group?
I was once mistaken for a prisoner on the way back from a job! I was the passenger and after a long day I was tired, so the driver suggested I have a nap on the floor (we were in a Dodge which didn’t have an engine in the middle so there was plenty of space). Unbeknown to me, we got stopped by the police because they were hunting for an escaped prisoner. Then, when they saw me with a coat as a blanket wrapped around me on the floor of the truck, they assumed I was the fugitive! It was certainly an abrupt awakening!
- Were you involved in any “firsts”?
I was part of the first trunk journey we ever did. (Trunking is the movement of goods using a regular route… typically on trunk roads). Gregory took eggs to London and returned with confectionary products. I was also the first person to secure a load with Hayton Coulthard Transport (HCT). So, you could say I was the beginning of our working relationship with HCT!
- What has kept you at Gregory Group all these years?
I have worked with three generations of the Gregory family and all of them focus on people. They bring a family feel to the business which makes it an enjoyable place to work.
- What do you think is key to the success of Gregory Group?
Loyalty, respect and communication. With all of this in place, we all want to do our jobs well and get things right. In turn, that results in happy customers.
- What advice would you give anyone starting out in this industry?
Start somewhere, listen to people and be prepared to learn. With an eager mind, opportunities will present themselves.
Thank you
Thank you to Alan for his years of dedication and for sharing his story with us.
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