Brian James Trailers continues to innovate to ensure the highest levels of quality and performance
Brian James Trailers was founded 45 years ago in the Midlands where it’s still based. The company originally made trailers for car transportation, quickly gaining a strong reputation in motor racing circles. Since then, growth has been consistent and organic, and the company diversified its product lines and began operating in new territories. As the business expanded so did its dealership network which now spans the globe.
Current CEO and third generation James family member, Lewis James, breaks down how the range has expanded: “The first thing we did was broaden the car transporter line into multiple ranges. We made some enclosed car transporters which are much higher in value and have become increasingly popular. Now we sell a lot of our car transporters to the professional car logistics industry. You’ve also got high-end car dealers who now need to provide delivery services in the most secure, safe, clean and stylish way possible, so they use our enclosed car transporters for that. 
Increasing efficiency
“We’ve also expanded our offering into commercial ranges that are more machinery focused,” Lewis continues. “This includes trailers for plant machinery and tipping trailers for use in construction and landscaping, as well as multipurpose trailers, and a flatbed that can be used for anything from moving construction materials and equipment during the week to transporting your racing car at the weekend.”
Over this period of growth production methods have evolved to cope with more diverse product ranges and greater demand. Lewis explains: “Over the last ten years we have increased the level of automation in our welding. We’ve added several automated welding bays to the point where now the majority of our welding gets done there. We are now also able to weld an entire chassis which is a much higher level of complication than our previous capabilities. Because of this production is now much more efficient.”
With a more honed and efficient production process, the business has begun to expand into the US market. “The US trailer market is bigger than the whole of Europe combined so it’s a really exciting prospect. We’ve spent the last year researching and developing our business and products in preparation. In the last month we’ve gained approval for the products to be sold in the US and we’ve attended a trade show and signed up our first dealer. We are now entering the launch phase so within a couple of months we’ll have produced the first trailers for America and have them on ships crossing the Atlantic. We’ll also launch a dedicated website for the US, and we will have finalized the design details to make sure everything produced in our factory will be to a US standard.”
High standards
Having reliable and high-quality suppliers is central to maintaining production standards, which is especially important when expanding into new territories. Lewis goes on to explain how the business maintains its positive relationships. “There are a few key suppliers which we have been working with for a number of years. We have a close relationship with them throughout the organization all the way up to senior management. They’re all either based in the UK or Europe and so through regular contact and visits we can closely monitor the standards they are working to. Further to that, we have recently signed up to ISO 9001, which means our suppliers also need to have ISO certification or to have gone through a process which proves their standards. The process is now much more formalized, which makes it easier to manage across the whole supply chain. We also try to keep our suppliers as local as possible to minimize lead times and control the standards of production.”
Maintaining high standards across the entire operation was a contributary factor in Brian James Trailers receiving the Kings Award for Enterprise. Lewis reflects on the other factors that helped the company stand apart from the competition. “The award is for international trade, and we have two strategic aims within the business. One is product development, and the other is business development which means expanding and improving our dealership network globally. We are a very export focused business and so our dealership network is central to what we do. We are always looking to expand into new territories, and I think we do this in a more focused and proactive way than much of the competition. We’re the first European trailer manufacturer to expand into the US in a really significant way for example.”
New features
The US is not the only area where the company is increasing its footprint. “We are also expanding significantly in Europe,” Lewis explains. “We’ve implemented a new sales team who will be focused on developing new business in different areas across Europe. On the product development side, we also have a busy nine months ahead; we’ll be launching four new product ranges. This will include a box van trailer, which will be a new product sector for us. This is an area of high value products but also a high volume of sales, which should present significant growth opportunities in the coming year.”
The company has also recently launched an exciting new feature which will aid the upcoming expansions. Lewis expands on the details: “Our newly updated trailer configurator, which I believe is unique in the industry, has a visualizer which updates as each specification is changed.”
Looking to the future, Lewis concludes: “We’re projected to bring in around £40 million of revenue this year and we’re hoping to double it in five years’ time with at least 20 percent coming from the US.”