Uckfield firms go the extra mile
Successful businesses will always have the customer as a core focus but you will be surprised to find just how far some Uckfield area firms will go to get it right.
This month Business Scene will tell you about “made-to-measure” bicycles, a taxi firm that truly goes the extra mile and the unusual jobs one family firm gets asked to do.
We also offer some free driving tips, how to get the children to play in the garden now its spring and talk to a firm that lets you travel in style, writes Paul Watson.
The amazing world of cycle racing
The amazing world of cycle racing is the lifeblood of Uckfield High Street business, In-Gear.
It is the only 100 per cent racing cyclist specialist shop in the whole of Sussex and Kent.
And when it comes to buying a new racing bike, there’s a lot more to it than meets the eye.
Bikes are built in the firm’s workshops to ensure they perfectly fit the rider.
The customer is measured and selects the components for the bike they wish to have – costing anywhere from around £500 to £10,000.
The measuring up process is in many ways similar to that used by tailors when making a “made-to-measure” suit.
In-Gear has all the specialist equipment which can make huge differences to a rider’s performance in a race or time trial.
And in the way F1 cars are honed to perfection, many of these products are tested in a wind tunnel.
Owner Peter Roberts said, for example, disc (solid) wheels can make the difference of a whole minute in a 25-miles time trial – races which can be won by just seconds.
The In-Gear Quickvit and Trainsharp team is run from the shop and has some of country’s national champions as members.
They race all over the country in time trials and in “mass start” races.
Every year the club promotes races at the Goodwood motor circuit and holds time trials at Ringmer.
A member of the team is former Tour de France rider Sean Yates, who lives in Uckfield. He wore the famous Yellow Jersey in the 1996 tour and also won a time trial in the race. He is now director of the Sky Pro team.
Family business specialises in the unusual
Family firm S. Siggs and Sons Ltd turns its hand to a wide variety of projects.
“Third generation,” Peter Siggs says: “We specialise in the unusual.
“We have the bread and butter work of fencing but we are asked to make all sorts of things, from bridges and jetties, to grave surrounds, pergolas, windows, cupboards and memorial seats.”
The bridges are suitable for use over streams and small lakes while the jetties bring an additional feature to the landscape when gardening on a big scale.
“We have a wide variety of things asked of us which is nice because it makes your brain work,” he said.
The business was founded in New Road by Peter’s grandfather, Stanley, in 1922. The business moved the short distance to its current home in Lewes Road in 1930.
The fourth generation is already part of the business, Peter’s sons, Simon and Ben.
As with many in similar trades, it pays to think ahead when needing fencing work completed.
Peter said: “People will go out in the garden and think the fence is a bit wonky and needs some work doing.
“We can do some quite quickly but, if you can, plan ahead and get us booked in before the plants start growing.”
Bring a smile to any child's face
Allium Activity Toys has the equipment and knowledge to bring a smile to any child’s face . . . and the grown-ups can join in too.
The Easons Green-based firm offers a full range of garden play equipment including climbing frames, play houses, trampolines, swings, slides, garden games and that perennial favourite, sandpits.
Owner Graham Langran said spring was an ideal time for people to refresh existing play equipment.
“We know people will want to watch the pennies but you can give your existing equipment a wow factor by adding some accessories. For example, a steering wheel or telescope added to a climbing frame opens up a whole new range of play idea for children.
“A swing can be transformed by, for example, putting in a tyre swing or monkey seat.”
Allium Activity Toys has a range of outdoor family games which the children can enjoy with the parents and grandparents joining in.
Chess, draughts, cricket, quoits, croquet, garden darts and giant pick-up sticks are some of the games available.
The firm prides itself on being able to offer customers expert advice on safety and siting issues, especially when people are buying larger items such as climbing frames and trampolines.
At the moment it has a special offer on a climbing frame with tower, rock wall and slide; all for £250.
It is always best to contact Allium Activity Toys before visiting so staff can be prepared for your visit.
This firm goes here, there and everywhere
Uckfield’s longest-established taxi firm, R and R, will see an upsurge in business taking holidaymakers to the airports at Gatwick, Heathrow and Stansted for their flights to the sun.
“Here, there and everywhere” is the motto of this family-orientated firm.
Last year’s snowy and icy weather saw a number of its older customers trapped in their homes.
R and R proprietor Rose Shepherd said that when customers were housebound or ill, the firm had gone shopping for people and made the deliveries – on foot in some cases.
She said: “Some of our customers we have had for 25 years. We will get anything for people, within reason.”
R and R Taxis, which operates from its distinctive offices in the old signal box at the railway station, has two wheelchair-accessible taxis.
Transport for brides and bridegrooms
J R Executive Travel expects the improving weather to bring more business as brides and bridegrooms tie-up the loose ends for their weddings.
Proprietor John Wilce said they may have sorted out the church and reception but the better weather acts as a reminder to complete the process by making the final arrangements, including transport.
The family-run business uses executive vehicles, such as Mercedes or BMWs, for its personal chauffeur service.
They have a wide range of customers for airport and seaports work, making connections with Eurostar services to the continent in Kent, theatre trips to London and Brighton or taking business people to functions.
Tips for drivers
Spring is the time of year when psychologically people think about learning to drive.
They feel it will be easier with the lighter evenings, says Keith Edden of Keith’s Driving School.
“People don’t like driving in the dark,” he said.
Like all exams, people want to know whether it is easier or harder today than when they took the exam.
He believes it is harder than it was 20 or 30 years ago but points out driving has greatly changed in that time.
There are many more cars on the road and drivers are much more “aggressive”.
“Passing the test is the first stage. Being safe on the roads is more important. That’s what I teach. You have to try and know what people are going to do before they tell you, Mr Edden said.
Tip: Beware the time of year when you drive with low sun. That makes driving a “nightmare – that’s the worst”. In summer, he said, everyone drives faster so make sure you are seeing what is going happening on the road around you.
Road safety improves in the spring
Road safety is strong message you get when taking lessons from Roy Garrod of the Red Amber Green School of Driving.
“One of the reasons I became involved in this is because I have always been a careful driver,” he said.
The longer daylight of spring helps driving instructors and those learning to drive.
“It is a more pleasant process to teach in better weather conditions and in daylight than in the murk of winter. Road safety improves because of better visibility,” he said.
Mr Garrod’s business is appropriately named in more ways than one. There’s the obvious one of the traffic lights sequence but even more so when you know his full name is Roy Alexander Garrod.
Tip: Observation is the key to passing your driving test and the key to driving for everyone.
Getting in a car is more than just getting from A to B.
“Think a little about the journey you are facing, what the driving conditions are likely to be like and what time of day it is; for example rush-hour or school-run time,” he said.
Good observation and awareness is key as you continually look for clues as to what is happening on the road.
In other news
Fifty firms represented at firm’s tenth anniversary party
Dr Who chef starts work at care home near Uckfield
Keeping trade local
East Sussex members of the Federation of Small Businesses are doing all they can to promote the national Keep Trade Local campaign. A spokesman said: “More than ever politicians are understanding that the wealth, health and happiness of towns and villages is based upon a thriving local economy: shops, pubs, cafes, post offices.”
Cautionary welcome to Budget
Sussex Enterprise, the Chamber of Commerce for Sussex, gave a cautionary welcome to the Budget and questions whether it will, in practice, deliver a stable platform for private sector growth.
Mark Froud, Chief Executive, said: “The budget gives the right sentiment but business will question how these changes will work in practice.
“Business welcomes the introduction of new rules requiring all planners to prioritise growth and jobs but what does this mean given the Localism Bill? How will this work in practice? “They will also welcome no new employment regulations on firms with less than 10 employees and start-ups but what about all of the other SMEs?”
See also:
Some of the good things to look for in Uckfield High Street
(Added to site Friday, April 1st, 2011)
