Jake Nicholls – From Racing Podium to Boardroom Pole Position

In?the fourth of?a series of articles exploring the history of one of Suffolk’s?stalwart businesses –?Tru7?Group – we meet Managing Director Jake Nicholls. The third generation of?the?Nicholls?family to run the plant hire,?construction,?and demolition firm, he?explains his?plans for further growth, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather with?the same “stubborn” streak that’s catapulted the enterprise to?a ￡70million turnover?operation?running 2,000 machines.

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

It’s a?well-known?proverb that?expresses the idea that a person inevitably shares traits with his or her?parents. Teenage Jake would have laughed?his head off at the very idea.?At the age of?six?he emphatically told his father he had no intention of working for?the family business and by 15 he had?left home to pursue a career as a professional?motocross?star.

But?ironically,?this determination was?actually the?first sign that Jake?possessed the?exact?same?characteristics?as his dad.

It’s therefore unsurprising perhaps, that?Jake?now sits?alongside Guy?Nicholls?in the boardroom of Tru7?as its Managing Director – and that the pair are?replicating the?incredible?relationship?between Guy and his own father Percy Nicholls – which is where the roots of the?company began?65?years ago.

“Dad and I have?the exact same mix of?bravery, stupidity and vision,” Jake said. “As a kid I couldn’t see it. But we both have ambition,?tenacity,?and fortitude – and neither of us like to be told ‘no’. In fact, if someone says we can’t do something, it makes us even more determined to do that very thing – and do it better than anyone else.”

Jake, a?former?pupil?of?Woodbridge School,?was?three when he first rode a motorbike and six when he took part in his first race – and won. At?14,?he?begged his parents for the opportunity to go to America to?learn how to ride motorbikes professionally.

“They were not happy about it at all,” he said. “But I think I wore them down and they thought that if they sent me, I would hate being away from home and?probably?get this whole bike thing out my system. In fact, it was the opportunity I needed?to progress?and when I returned home?two months?later,?I?turned?pro.”

He?moved to?Belgium for five years,?which is where the sport is based,?and?was just 17 when he competed in his first World Championship,?placed 4th in the World Championship 2012 and reached?the podium at the British Grand Prix?a year later.?But his career was?interrupted by several injuries – one of which caused a lightbulb moment for him.

“I was racing in Italy and had a?really bad crash?and dislocated my hip,” he said. “I remember waking up from the operation and it was like a switch had been flicked in my brain.?I recognised that I needed something more, something different.”

This was the Eureka moment his father Guy had always been?hoping?for. But Jake wasn’t prepared to be?a “silver spoon kid” who just gets given golden opportunities without working for them.

“I?knew I had a lot to prove,”?said Jake, who is married to teenage sweetheart Blu and has a two-year-old daughter River. “And?so,?I asked my dad if I could start out driving machinery for him which I did for four months.

“Weirdly my experience racing taught me a lot of transferable skills – mainly the knowledge I have about?dirt.?I’d go as far as to say that was a specialist subject for me.?In?motocross,?you?must?understand soil types and?different?conditions and how machinery responds to it. The same applies with big machinery.”

Working on the plant gave Jake an excellent rapport with the other drivers.It also demonstrated his willingness to get his hands dirty and start at the bottom. He admits that when Guy eventually moved him into an office role, he felt out of his comfort zone.

“Actually,?I hated it for the first 12 months,” he laughed. “But there’s another thing dad and I share – stubbornness. We don’t give up on things. And I’m glad I stuck it out.?I eventually found my feet and?now every day is a buzz and I feel like I am adding value.”

In the last?five years Jake has introduced a fleet of bulldozers and single-handedly created a new division to the business specialising in earthworks?which now?contributes ￡9million to the annual turnover.

“I saw that we had good drivers and great equipment?and were?doing a fantastic job for other people. I recognised we could do more. All I needed was an estimator and contracts manager because we had everything else,” he said.

Today the company is best known as owner of the Trucks ‘R’ Us and Tippers ‘R’ Us vehicle hire?brands,?but?it also?supplies a wide range of premium vehicles, operators and materials to the British construction and allied industries.

It?employs?300?people, offers van, truck and plant rental and sales, and demolition and remediation, earthworks, asbestos removal,?concrete,?and aggregates services.

“My ambitions for this business are to keep evolving,” Jake said. “Plant hire is still the?mothership,?but our fleet is large and consists of?1,500 plant, 300 lorries and 350 commercial vehicles.?There is scope to cross-sell across the different areas of our business and there?are ways to keep growing while remaining here, in the heart of Suffolk.

“I’m lucky – dad and I are doing this together. But I think the?fact that my grandfather died so young and so suddenly is always in our minds.?It makes you realise how short life is. I want to spend every minute with dad, learn from him, pick his brains?before it’s too late.?

“I’m third generation so all the pressure is on me. They say less than 10% of third generation businesses survive but for me this is just another driver.

“In fact, it brings me right back to the start. Tell me I can’t do something – and I will do it better than you could have ever imagined. Just like my dad.”