A former serviceman with the Royal Signals, who set up his own logistics firm in Teesside after leaving the forces, is celebrating a successful decade in business.

After struggling to find work on leaving the Army, Craig Wells decided to launch his own haulage business, T&B Solutions in Redcar, and has never looked back.

The family firm started out with one vehicle and now has a fleet of 26.

The company offers UK and European general haulage services and earlier this year joined Pallet-Track network to add palletised freight deliveryacross the region to its portfolio.

T&B Solutions has also just purchased a new Iveco S-WAY 490 truck and planted a tree to help offset its carbon emissions.

Along with transport services, T&B Solutions also provides CPC training and first aid courses.

Wells said: “When I first started it wasn’t planned this way – it was just me and one truck. I started as a one-man band and only bought my second truck to help a friend out with some work.

“Ever since I started running two vehicles, I began to diversify the business and it started to grow. I developed a reputation for reliability and it has gone from there.

“I used to be in HGV training and a forklift instructor – so the ambition longer-term is to become a one-stop shop for logistics and training, all under one roof.”

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Serving with the Royal Signals across the UK and Germany gave Wells a mindset to succeed after leaving the forces.

He said: “Initially, I struggled to find work and my rep at the Job Centre said, ‘You’re the most qualified unemployed person I know.’

“They were very supportive, put me on courses to start my business and I’ve never looked back.

“The mindset was already there – as the old saying goes, where there’s a will there’s a way.”

Looking ahead to the developing relationship with Pallet-Track, Craig added: “We started in January, so we’re eight months in and it’s already opened a lot of avenues for us. It has definitely benefited us as a business.”

Stuart Godman, Pallet-Track chief executive, said: “Congratulations to Craig and the whole team at T&B Solutions – 10 years in business is a fantastic achievement and we are already seeing the benefits of having a company of its calibre as a member of our network.

“We look forward to growing together and continuing to share in T&B’s success.”

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