An interview with Anthony Walmsley of Army Ants in Preston, by Steve Jordan.

Look back in the history of many moving companies in the UK, or elsewhere in the world, and you’ll find they started out doing something else.  Only a few months ago I interviewed Mike Deveraux - he told me tales of a ‘mum and dad’ company working off the kitchen table; Maidmans started when Brian Maidman, then a milkman, moved a sofa on his milk float; Matt Purdie started out as a coal merchant; Whites provided a laundry service to the Navy in Portsmouth; and countless others started when grandad returned from the War with no skills other than an ability to drive a truck. Everyone started out somewhere.  Everyone was, at some time, just like Army Ants.

The strange thing is that some of the bigger moving companies look down on these newcomers completely forgetting that they started there too; and forgetting that these emerging organisations are the multi-nationals of the future – the BAR and FIDI presidents of the next generation.

Army Ants in Preston, run by Anthony Walmsley, is just such a company. Anthony was a professional goalkeeper until recurring injuries forced him to hang up his boots and gloves. To make a living he bought a van and found a source for army surplus equipment.  Anthony became known by his customers, not surprisingly, as Army Ant.  When he set up his moving company in 2008 it was Army Ant’s company – of course it was.

With hindsight it probably wasn’t a great time to set up a company of any kind, especially not in the moving business.  But, of course, in 2008 we were all invincible: Colonel Gadaffi was a reformed character, politicians could still claim expenses and we trusted banks.  Oh how the world changes! 

But despite the obvious challenges of the recession, Army Ants is doing fine.  “Right from the start we’ve had enough work to keep us going,” said Anthony speaking from his very smart garden shed that he uses as an office.  “There are only three of us here so as long as we have one decent job a day we are OK.” When I met Anthony he was nursing aching muscles after completing a large job in London that had kept him and the lads on the road for two days.  

The company runs three vehicles: an 18-tonner, a ten tonner and a Luton van.  The ten-tonner’s off the road at the moment as Anthony doesn’t yet have an operator’s licence for it. He takes on additional labour to help when the work load demands.

The company might be small but it has a bigger company image.  The staff are very neatly turned out in corporate red polo shirts, the vans are kept clean and the website is well designed and kept up to date with testimonials from very happy customers. In fact the website’s Google page rating is 2/10 which is pretty good for a moving company (Whittles, Anthony’s much more established neighbour, only manages 1/10; and even the mighty Pickfords merits no more than 5/10). In this respect Army Ants is obviously doing a lot of things right.

And it’s doing things right that Anthony said has made the company successful. He recognises that his customers are his best advertisement and he makes every effort to look after them.  “I do all the surveys myself; I think people like to see the owner when they are making a decision. I make sure I explain everything carefully and give them a proper quotation.” 

Anthony is also careful about costings.  As a small company he needs to make sure that every job pays.  He can’t afford to be working for nothing.  “I know exactly what we need to earn on each job and we always make a profit,” he said.

He’s thought about joining BAR or the Guild but hasn’t been convinced of the benefits.  But he does agree that running a small business can be lonely sometimes. “It would be useful to bounce ideas off other people and build up a network of industry contacts, but I really don’t have time right now.  I’m too busy doing the job.”

Despite not being part of a trade association Anthony has struck up some close working arrangements with other companies to provide assistance and back-load services, mainly through the website MovingEtc.  “Recently we’ve tamed up with Stephens Removals, Colin Mackenzie Removals, DMS Removals, Clear Removals, TMTY Movers, Moving Everywhere and BHR Removals,” he said.  Anthony has also recently bought a Blackburn-based moving company called Kwikflit Removals.

The one area that causes Anthony the biggest headaches is the paperwork.  His computer shines brightly on his desk but he prefers to do his costings long hand and runs his jobs from a good, old fashioned desk diary. He runs the day-to-day business efficiently but he admits that sometimes he loses the bigger picture.  It’s a problem shared by every small business owner: too busy working in the business to work on the business.

For now Army Ants is a small business employing just three people and using two vans.  But keep an eye on that modest office in Preston.  Before long Anthony will be turning up at BAR Area meetings, voicing his opinion at conferences, and moving on to bigger and better things.  Like many before it, and despite the recession, the future looks rosy for Army Ants.