An interview with Mark, Sarah and Matt Lane from Britannia Lanes of Cornwall, to look at succession, staffing, attitudes to change, and being first. By Steve Jordan.
It had been a while since I had set the sat nav to point south-west and head off to the extraordinary county of Cornwall to visit Britannia Lanes. As I drove in, the façade appeared unchanged, but I suspected a lot was different. I was here, not just to interview Mark, but also to talk to his children, Sarah and Matt her younger brother, as they take over the reins of this remarkable UK moving dynasty.
Mark said that he, and his siblings Rob (who runs the Exeter operation with his wife Emma) and Maria (who runs Bridgewater and Somerset with her husband Angus) were very fortunate in that their parents, Mike and Sylvia (Sylvia was BAR president in 2005) having set up the business, were prepared to put up the investment and let the kids get on with it. He taken a similar position with the third generation.
“I have always been lucky that Dad’s been very inclusive of me,” said Sarah. “I think it works because we have a very good working relationship. Our ideas are very similar. I think if you are very different people, and you have to work at the relationship, it would be more difficult.”
“Sarah is just like my mum,” joked Mark. “I was only king for a couple of years.” The interview was just the day after Sarah, her brother Matt and her cousin Alexandra (Rob and Emma’s daughter) had been made directors of the company that embraces all three depots.
Although Mark is still very closely involved with the strategic side of the business, and with property dealings, it’s Matt and Sarah who run the Cornwall operation day to day.
I wondered if things were different now compared with when Mark took over? ...
Photo: Sarah and Matt Lane.