In this episode, James Cooper, Director of Peter Cooper Ltd discusses how he began within the industry full time from the age of 21, although as a second-generation remover he helped out in the family business during school holidays from 12/13.
James was begrudgingly shuffled off to college followed by university (to study marketing), mainly by his mother, to gain a degree to fall back on should he not want to return to the family business, although the goal was always for James to return. But prior to James’s return to the family business, he went on to learn his removal foundation skills from White & Co initially and then GB Liners.
Peter Cooper Ltd was started in 1986 by James’s parents, and provide domestic (predominantly), European, international & commercial relocations, secure shredding, and storage, but also offer an antique restoration and repair side of the business too, as Peter (James’s father) was trained as an antique restorer. On the removals side James runs a full-time removal crew of 12, and 3 restorers on the antique side, operating a varied fleet of 11 vehicles.
James has overcome several challenges, in the early days it was being the boss’s son, but Covid was his biggest challenge.
The one thing James would change from his moving past is to have purchased land that became available on the industrial estate they currently reside, but the land and the build costs were just astronomical.
James’s highpoint of being within the industry are when the guys return from their jobs with a clean job ticket, and they and the customers are happy, then it’s a good day.
The one thing James would like to change within the industry is people’s perception of what our industry is about.
The advice James would give himself just starting out within the industry again is that you can never have to many friends within the industry, to ask questions, and to listen to the views of others no matter how different they may be to your own.
In the next 5 years James believes he will be doing exactly what he is doing now, enjoying life, and hopefully taking more holidays, but probably still complaining about all the things the industry normally complains about on a yearly basis. Industry wise, James doesn’t see any change as it slowly gets back to pre-Covid trends.
Outside of the industry James has a very long to-do list composed by Mrs C, regarding the new home they purchased 5 years ago that requires a lot of work, so DIY is his current escapism. Up until a year ago James played football on a weekly basis, and in his youth was a schoolboy player for Southampton FC.
And as always, we end Moving Matters with a funny moving story regarding an overnight in Hamburg, Germany.
Enjoy!
Links to Peter Cooper Ltd:
* Website (https://www.petercooperltd.co.uk/)
* Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/petercooperltd) Special Guest: James Cooper.