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TROOP’S TIMES Issue No 10 Price - Free September 2014

Hello everybody, Welcome to our 10th issue of Troops Times. Having spent many months this year with health problems created by assisting my decorator in removing an old marble fireplace, I have banned myself from any form of DIY! My thanks go out to you all for keeping the wheels of industry rolling at James Troop. As you will read later in this issue, we have had a very successful year so far, thanks to you all for pulling together, even though margins still remain tight against some stiff competition from our competitors. Keep up the good work!

Don’t forget - the customer is still KING!

Bob Troop

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50 Years Not Out!

In January Bob completed 50 years service with Troops and a special dinner was held at Liverpool Yacht Club to recognize this rare achievement. Present and former staff and their partners enjoyed an excellent dinner dance during which Bob was presented with a decanter, silver tray and set of glasses as a memento of the occasion.

Party time at Bob’s 50th

Bob has served the Liverpool Guild of Marine Engineers and Architects for many years and in various roles. In recognition of his valued service, the Guild presented Bob with a special award in December – well done Bob!

Bob’s “Plumber’s Award (Who’s that nodding off?)

MoD News In August 2013 following a two year pre-qualification and tendering process, we were all delighted to learn that our tender to supply replacement generators for the Royal Navy’s 7 Sandown Class Minesweepers had been successful; in fact, our bid was judged to be the best both technically and commercially.

Bob pouring the celebration champagne!

Work has progressed at pace this year with all the required modifications to the Gensets (which include fitting stainless steel under-bases, special fuel tanks and degaussing coils) being carried out in our Workshop. At the time of writing this, there are 15 sets in our Worksop of which 6 are all boxed up and ready to be despatched as soon as the MoD decide which ship is to receive them. The photograph on the next page was taken when the first 6 Gensets were being worked on and, interestingly, the Rolls Royce set that the Volvo Penta sets are replacing can be seen in the foreground.


The first 3 sets have now been installed and commissioned in HMS Bangor and the ship’s crew are reported to be delighted with them.

In addition to training the ship’s crew, Alan Railton has also run a course at Runcorn for Engineers from the Royal Navy’s Fleet Support Group at Faslane (pictured below).

New Faces:- Since our last issue we have welcomed two new Service Engineers, Robert Kerr and Ian Lee. Robert is 33 and lives in Burtonwood with wife Jamie and daughter Erin. Robert joined us from Camco Automotive in Warrington who specialise in Fuel Injection and Turbocharger diagnostics. Away from work, Robert’s main interest is motor-racing and he races his own go-kart.

Ian is also 33 and lives near Chester with wife Alison and their 3 children, Morgan, Alexis and Jesse. Ian joined Troops after 16 years with REME, serving in Germany, the Falklands, Belize, Canada and Oman. Ian’s main hobby is Moto-Cross and he is yet another Liverpool FC fan. Ian and Robert are pictured together in the Workshop.

During this year we have said “Goodbye” to Tony Hilton and Callum Ferns and we wish them both well in their future work.

Ian and Robert in the Workshop

Volvo Penta News & Dealer Day

Our 2nd Dealer Day (theme:- Adding Value) was on April 10th at the National Waterways Museum, Ellesmere Port and was attended by representatives from each of our seven Dealers. Many delegates stayed at the nearby Holiday Inn the night before and enjoyed networking and an excellent dinner.

Stephen Griffiths opened the conference by welcoming our five existing Dealers and two new Dealers, AAS Marine and Llyn Marine, before presenting an overview of recent developments and future plans. Geoff Hall then outlined the Volvo Penta environmental standards before Anthony Ward spoke about opportunities for new engine sales.

The Dealers then gave short presentations on their own businesses and then listed their top needs from both Troops and Volvo Penta. Troop’s staff, supported by Ryan Jarvis and Tim Barclay from Volvo Penta, facilitated two Workshop sessions in which


Dealers were asked to identify what future Campaigns should be run, and when.

The Museum staff provided an excellent buffet lunch at which we were joined by more of Troops’ staff to help everyone put faces to names that they had only spoken to before. After lunch, we were given a guided tour of the Boat Museum and its many fascinating exhibits – it’s well worth another visit!

After the tour, the Dealers gave us their feedback from the Workshops about future Campaigns after which Volvo Penta’s Ryan Jarvis talked about the Volvo Penta business and its future direction. Ryan and Tim then thanked all the Dealers on their commitment to training during the year before presenting training awards to Dickies and Marine Charter Solutions. Following a final Q & A session, Robert Pollock closed a successful event by thanking everyone for attending and affirmed that, through working together, we will help each other to grow our businesses during the years to come.

James Troop’s Directors wish to thank all our Dealers for their commitment and support during 2013 and wish them all every success in 2014 and beyond.

Volvo Penta Centre Conference 2014

This was held in Rome at the end of March and the theme was “Excellence in Action”. Attendees included over 150 delegates from Volvo Penta Centres and over 70 Volvo Penta employees. Guest speakers from Fairline, Maersk and Hollenbach gave their views on how Volvo Penta has impacted on their businesses and what they expect in the future from Volvo Penta and the Centres. As well as participating in the usual business development workshops, Robert Pollock and Steve Griffiths covered what we expected from Volvo Penta and what VP expected of

all of us - i.e. You and Me!

Training was highlighted as this is the only tangible measure of the quality of VP support throughout the world and is to be high on the agenda for all Centres & Service Dealers.

Leisure & Commercial Marine Engine business was also a concern of VP and the Industrial business was seen as the potential area for growth with pressure put on us and our Dealers to promote sales in our areas. The “benefits of being in a leading position” was presented by Clive Dunsford and team and we have taken this on board within our business plan and actions.

Networking with other Volvo Penta Centres was a key activity and helped us gauge our progress against similar sized businesses. Conference evenings were very enjoyable - one night consisted of a 10 mile hike around Rome collecting points - and you know what points make! Robert & Steve got very wet as it rained continuously throughout (in order to keep Rome’s many fountains topped up!)

James Troop was runner up in the European Dealer management awards and was the only UK Centre to be put forward. However, we did later collect Volvo Penta’s “Green Commitment” certificate after Volvo Penta UK reviewed of our Environmental Evidence dossier and agreed that our environmental procedures and practices more than met all VP’s environmental requirements. Our plan over the next year or so is to help each of our Dealers achieve the same standard.

All Wales Boat Show

Two of our Dealers, Marine Charter Solutions & Dickies of Bangor, were among almost 100 exhibitors at the Conwy show in June along with other boat dealers including Fairline. Interestingly, over half of the boats on the pontoon area were powered by Volvo Penta engines. Marine Charter Solutions’ Trevor Bethell reported an excellent footfall over the weekend with over 60 leads to follow up. Demonstrations of fly-boarding, dog rescues and a Harley Davidson stand ensured a busy but very useful and entertaining show – later in this issue are some pictures of the show. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~


The “Kathleen & May” is the last remaining British-built wooden hull 3-masted topsail schooner; she was built in Connah’s Quay in 1900 and under her original name of “Lizzie May” (the daughters of her first captain) she carried coal between England and Ireland for much of her working life until 1945 when she became a hulk. She was later restored, first by the Maritime Trust in 1970 and then by Bideford businessman Steve Clarke in 1999. The ship was first fitted with its first diesel engine in 1936 (a 60 kW Beardsmore), which was then replaced in 1943 by a 93 kW Deutz and later by a 300 kW Detroit in 1999.

The K&M is currently based at Liverpool’s Albert Dock where it has undergone more restoration work which has included fitting a new diesel. Against some heavy competition from the likes of Caterpillar and with the support of Volvo Penta, James Troop won an order to supply a 450 hp D13 Engine and a 22 kVA Beta Generator. These sets were installed during this summer (pictured below is the D13 being installed) and sea trials were successfully completed in August.

Some of us who are “a bit longer in the tooth” will remember the Kathleen and May in the BBC drama The Onedin Line (1971-1980) # when she featured as the Charlotte Rhodes. Her next starring role is to be in Disney’s “Alice Through the Looking Glass” which is now being filmed in Gloucester Docks with Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter.

[# more trivia:- did you know that as a young Metallurgist at Rustons, your editor worked on the restoration of the steam locomotive “Lion”, the oldest operable steam locomotive in the country and the star of the 1953 film “The Titfield Thunderbolt”? It’s a small world!]

MTU News

Robert Pollock and Steve Griffiths were our representatives at this year’s MTU Dealer Conference held on March 2nd at Mitchell Diesels’ premises at Sutton-in-Ashfield. This Conference was not as grand as the Volvo conference but a very down-to-earth meeting gave both sides ample time to air their views. Each Dealer gave a presentation on the key issues affecting their business; for Troops, Wind-Farm issues which required an urgent response were also highlighted. Overall, Troops appear to be leading the way on resolving issues about maintaining existing and obtaining future MTU business.

DEUTZ Dealer Day 2nd July 2014

Steve Griffiths and Tony Ward attended this meeting which gave an overview of DEUTZ “the Company”, new Engine products and EAT (exhaust after treatment) technology to meet new and future legislation. Other topics explored were “Serpic” and the Deutz engine population, details of which are critical to marketing and drive future campaigns. Deutz also announced that there was to be a major focus on construction - which fits in with Volvo Penta planned focus!

DEUTZ agreed that these are difficult times and we all need to make every effort to secure local business.


Daihatsu News

Earlier this year Bob Troop presented DDE’s Managing Director, Katsushi Watanabe, with a framed colour print of Liverpool’s waterfront in recognition of 30 years operation of DDE’s London office.

Daihatsu and Troops next came together for an informal Golf Day at Heswall Golf Club in July. Our picture shows Yoshi Sengoku and his father-in-law, “Tom” Kinoshita enjoying a drink in the sun with John Troop and Peter Hurst after playing out an honourable draw.

Pictured (L-R) are Tom, Yoshi, Peter and John – but look behind Peter – how did Dave Squires manage this “photo-bomb” when he was supposed to be sailing to South Africa?

Talking of Dave Squires, earlier this year he returned to the cruise ship MV Amadea (28,856 GT) to work on its Daihatsu gensets; while onboard, he picked up this picture of the ship moored next to the to the MS “Oasis of the Seas” (225,282 GT) – talk about ”Little ‘n large”?

Shows After a very long break, Troops got back to exhibiting at trade shows in May when we took part in the “Vertikal Days” Show at Haydock Park. This 2-day show targets Lifting, Handling and Crane OEMs and we were well supported by both Volvo Penta and Deutz Marketing and Technical Departments. Our investment in the new stand helped raise Troop’s visibility both locally and on a wider scale and we identified a lot of potential business contacts which are being followed up. On the last page of this issue you can see some pictures taken during the show.

Business Award

The Halton Chamber of Commerce (of which we are members through the Astmoor BID) introduced a new award in 2014 for the “Astmoor Business of the Year”. Steve and I suggested that we try for this award, based mainly on our success of winning the MoD Genset contract. Our entry really was at the “last minute” and we were pleasantly surprised to be short-listed. We were even more surprised to learn a few weeks later that we had actually won the award!


Our pictures show Paula Cain, CEO of Halton Chamber and Laki Singh, BID Estates Manager, presenting Bob with the award which is now displayed in Reception.

70 Not Out!

Both Barbara and John Troop celebrated their 70th birthdays recently – congratulations to them both from everyone at Troops.

I managed to get a photograph of Barbara’s presentation, but all the pictures of John wearing the Troop’s “Birthday Hat” appear to have been mysteriously wiped off the server!

Good Feedback from Customers

A number of our Customers have praised the work of our Engineers recently, including:-

Workships Contractors BV (John Ferns), Fred Olsen Windcarriers (Danny Leavesley), Bridgewater Aluminium (Adam Teale and

Robert Kerr), RNLI Lerwick (DL) and Terry Robinson (Ocean Clipper 2 - Colin Burrows). Well done guys – keep up the good work!

Troop’s “Fantasy Premier League”

TFPL 2nd Season saw 9 teams battling it out with Jason leading from the start before Vanessa’s Star Trekkers pipped him at the (goal)post in a tight finish. Vanessa’s victory won her the BetFrank jackpot from which she treated us all to a breakfast! At the other end of the table, I was pleased to hand over Troop’s wooden spoon to Robert! (I note that this season he has named his team “No more wooden spoon!” We shall see!)

Team Manager Pts

1 The Force B with U Vanessa Nelson 2,373

2 Cannibal AFC Jason Marshall 2,336

3 38 games a season Frank Jamieson 2,170

4 Barney’s Heroes Geoff Hall 2,127

5 Ireallywonitlasttime Peter Hurst 2,100

6 Fandabedozers Lisa Talbot 2,023

7 Head the Balls Derek Bate 2,016

8 Gus F.C. Carl Kenwright 1,995

9 Trebor Robert Pollock 1,926

Last Words

Thank you all for your contributions, pictures, suggestions and encouragement – I really do appreciate your support! Please keep the ideas, stories and pictures coming along!

If you have had your holidays, why don’t you share your experiences and pictures? How about a competition for the funniest holiday photograph? (Yours will have to be a cracker to beat my picture of the Crayons in Prague!)

Geoff Hall

Stop Press:- Good News!

Severn Trent Water has just confirmed that our recent tender has been successful and we have been awarded a 5-year Framework Agreement to supply Perkins and MAN spare parts and carry out engine overhauls – full details of the contract are to follow soon.


Vertikal Days at Haydock Park – 14th and 15th April 2014

The entrance to the show - quite uplifting? Carl, Yvonne & Tony smile for the camera

Alan Beech MD of Deutz & Ryan Jarvis of Volvo

Penta gave us valuable support at the show. Craig Clements of Hewdens receiving a Troop’s fleece

after winning the Business Card Raffle.

Carl won the Manitowoc Trophy for most goals # in a small hole in a football net (# his tale started with 4 but grew to 9 and keeps on increasing!!!).

The driving simulator leader board featured Jason Marshall virtually to the end of the show – before Carl

Fittipaldi unseated him for the photo call.


Conwy Boat Show

A Newfoundland rescue dog dives in to recover Tony Ward’s mobile phone?

Fly-boarding - or walking on water!

Another way to cross the Mersey?

Bridgewater Canal Surprises – Summer 2014

Guess who went Ka-Yaking in his lunch break? This unlucky fisherman also went (Ford) Ka-yaking!

Volvo-powered Craft at work……

The Pilot Boat “Skua” on the River Mersey is powered by 2 x Volvo Penta D12s.

Sea trials for Pilot Boat “Ba’ia de Setubal” built by Safehaven with 2 x Volvo Penta D9-425s.

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