Bristol-based supplier Air Brake Direct has been trading for a decade. With more staff, more products and more room to grow, what comes next?
Bristol-based supplier Air Brake Direct is a specialist commercial motor factor which supplies air braking systems such as Knorr-Bremse and Wabco. It also supplies all makes of products for coach and bus operators around the country.
Established on 12 February 2010, this year marks 10 years of trading. The company has recently gathered momentum and is taking on 2020 with a bigger team and plans to expand the business even further.
Where it began
Air Brake Direct was established from just one mind. Ian Mason, Managing Director, started the business a decade ago.
Says Ian: “I started Air Brake Direct at home in 2010 with a laptop and mobile phone and amazing support from my fiancée Lucie, who was also expecting the birth of our first child. We then moved from home to a small unit in the Kingswood area of Bristol where we stayed for several years.
“Now we are in a 3000ft2 modern unit in a fantastic location in central Bristol.”
Ian has spent the whole of his working life in the trade. He started his career at 18 with an air braking wholesale company and worked with them for 10 years, gaining vital experience of the business before moving on to his next venture.
“That’s where I originally got my experience from before I left to go and work for an OE DAF franchise for 12 months. Then I decided to set up Air Brake Direct,” he says.
Now Air Brake Direct is an official distributor for manufacturers such as Automint, Majorsell, Roadlink, Juratek, SCM Turbo and others, and works with coach and bus operators both locally and nationwide.
Start of 2020
After setting up the business and gradually building up its reputation, Ian moved Air Brake Direct into a newly refurbished unit in Bristol with two new staff members, both of whom joined in 2019.
“We got the two new staff members recently because we had expanded. Gary Toomer came on board in July and Lee Holder in November.”
The new members were hand-picked because of their extensive knowledge of the industry.
Gary, Parts Sales Advisor, has an extensive knowledge of the products at Air Brake Direct, and has had many years’ experience working in the air braking and wholesale distribution industry.
Lee, Business Development Manager, brings a wealth of experience to the company. He has had a lengthy career specialising in aftermarket coach and bus products in his previous employment at Volvo Bus.
“That’s what makes Air Brake Direct different,” says Ian: “Knowledge of the industry, availability and service.”
He adds: “Lee has worked for us for three months. So, it’s new to him – not the product – but the way Air Brake Direct works. Lee has already picked up a lot of business because of his previous employment.”
Adding more members to the team was just one of the few hurdles that Ian faced when building Air Brake Direct.
“The market has actually been pretty solid for the past 10 years,” he says.
“We’ve just expanded, and grown into new product ranges, such as steering and suspension, turbochargers, NOx sensors, starter motors, alternators, wheel hubs and more.”
The challenges he faced were more personal than business focused. “I’ve pretty much been working straight for 10 years and haven’t really had time off.
“This is the first year where we’ve actually managed to plan a holiday which is a good thing – especially with my fiancée and daughter.”
Products and services
Products and servicesAir Brake Direct’s wide variety of products can be shipped to UK operators quickly, sometimes even on the same day. It also exports products to Europe and the rest of the world.
“We cover Bristol and surrounding areas on a daily delivery service,” says Ian.
“The problem we’ve got, even though Air Brake Direct is 10 years old, is that a lot of people in Bristol don’t know about us. That’s because when I worked for myself I didn’t concentrate on the Bristol area, as our export business was booming. We’re a hidden gem.
“We are now in central Bristol with very good routes to surrounding areas. We deliver to Gloucester, Somerset and Wiltshire on the same day and we can deliver to the whole of the UK overnight or the next day with a TNT/UPS courier.”
Looking forward
So, after a year of quick expansion, along with 10 years of trading and building up its reputation, what’s next for the Air Brake Direct business?
Ian explains: “We’re just a singular branch at the moment but have plans to open more distribution centres within the UK.”
Air Brake Direct is hoping to be able to increase its delivery area and explore exporting more products.
With only one decade passed so far, who knows how big and how far Air Brake Direct will go in the next 10 years?
