Page 152 - ITUK Press Cuttings 2017

ISUZU TRUCK [UK) MD PETE MURPHY

CM: A few years ago, you briefly offered an . : . CM: At 51, you're one of the youngest truck
l8-tonner. which I was able to road test. What *3]., bosses in the UK.What was your career path to
W happened to that project? Are we ever likely to ffi' geftingthere?
see any larger Isuzus, even tractor units in the UK? PM:Very unusual, I guess, in the sense that I left school
PM:The 2008 product was the Euro-4 model. At that after myAJevels and went into pub management for a
timc. the exchange rate was 252 yen to the pound. Then couple of years. I got into selling in thc FMCG [fast-
the financial crisis struck and basically the global moving consumer goods] scctor - basically pop, crisps and
economy went off a cliff. The rate plummeted to about sweets. I only came into the CV industry when I joined
117 to the pouncl, so by the time we came to sell the Lex Tiansfleet in 1992.It
Euro-5. it was just uneconomical to bring in the was there that I {irst rnet
18-tonne product. We keep asking at every opportunity Nikki. Isuzu had just
for more products and bigger products. Currently we started at the time. I got
have up to 12 tonnes in thc UK. I desperately hopc one talking to her, then out
day we'1l have that 1S-tonner back. Quite when that will of the blue I got a
be. I don't know. With regard to tractor units. I think telephone call saying
that's possibly unlikcly. However, you never know what Isuzu was looking for a
the future holds. fleet guy in the north,
CM: Some drivers think your Japanese-styled, and asking if I would be,
*] * compact cab is a bit too cramped.Do you see interested in coming for
.
that ar a tiabilitv or an asset? an interview.
PM:We delinitely see it as an asset. We have certainly It was probably the
won business on the size of the cab. l'm thinking about most laid-back interview
multi-drop. ultra-urban environments. or home deliverv ever. to the extent that
environments. In fact. down in Cornwall, we do really I'd been oft'ered the job
well lvith the product in an ultra-rural environment, and then almost as I was
because obviously vou'r,e got the narrow lanes where going out of the door, I said: "Oh, by the wav I have a CV
the vehicle can operate. here if you want that." The answer came back that they
I think maybe some people are a bit surprised that knew rvho I was and all about me. They just rvanted to see
it's a little bit more roomy inside than it looks tiom the whether I would fit culturally into the business. Really, it's
outside. If someone particularly wants the biggest cab just been a greatjourney liom then on.
on the market. ours clearly isn't that. I guess it's a When Nikki retired. I think she wanted someone with
trade-off. the same sort of valucs of customer care she had. and who
The vehicle is light. but maybe you can't have the cared as deeply about the company. So she put me
biggest cab and a good payload at the same time. forward. and the rest as they say. is history. )

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