04/25/2024

Wales News Online

Local & National News for Wales

Llanelli family haulage firm Owens Group has welcomed Nia Griffith MP to their depot in Bynea to see the business and meet representatives of the Road Haulage Association at the beginning of National Lorry week.

During the visit the local MP heard about the range of services provided by the company from long distance haulage to express delivery and warehousing, running a fleet of some 150 vans, 400 trucks and 850 trailers, and providing employment for some thousand workers, operating from depots in south and north Wales, Birmingham and Manchester.

Ian Owen, who has recently taken over from his father Huw Owen as the Managing Director of the company explained how the firm which was founded by his father, supported by his mother, using their wedding savings, will be celebrating its 50th anniversary next year, and has been proud to support the local community over many years, supporting the Scarlets, Air Ambulance, Follow your Dreams and Breast Cancer charities.

Mr Owen also described how Owens Group had been called in at short notice by Welsh Government during the pandemic to unload PPE arriving at Cardiff Airport, and get it out to where it was needed in hospitals and care homes across Wales.

After the visit, Nia Griffith MP commented,
” It was interesting to see just how big the company has grown, and what a range of services and job opportunities they provide. I was particularly impressed with their “Can-do” attitude ….which means a determination to work out solutions and get on with the job, as they did when shifting the PPE from aircraft to the health service frontline, as well as hearing about their recruitment and apprenticeship programme, training up employees including HGV drivers, which hopefully will help to fill some gaps in the industry. Many thanks for letting me have a go at driving the truck…..it certainly made me realise just how big these vehicles are, and how thorough the training needs to be. But, as we mark National Lorry Week, it is vital that the UK Government should sit down with firms like Owens and the Road Haulage Association, and work out real and lasting solutions to the HGV driver shortages rather than coming up with half baked ideas. “

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