History
1900's
At the turn of the last century way back in 1905, Walter and Thomas Septimus Camplejohn - the Camplejohn Brothers of Darfield introduced the first motor buses to South Yorkshire – causing something of a revelation.
It would seem the seeds of innovative logistical expertise were being sown long before the 3rd, 4th and 5th generations of today’s Camplejohn family were even thought of!
Ernest Camplejohn (1901-1993), founder of Green Tree Warehousing can be seen on board the Char-a-banc (front bench) along with his proud father and uncle – the Camplejohn Bros.
The late Ernest reflected fondly of the times when the quirky early day buses would lose their grease-covered drive chain and the passengers (women & men) would offer assistance to remedy the problem, or dismount to assist in pushing the primitive ‘chara’ up steep hills! Nonetheless – late arrivals were an alleged rarity, not that anyone cared much in those days – a stark contrast to today’s expectations!
1950's
Through the years, the family remained in Yorkshire, focusing on transport; Ernest with a wealth of engineering skills, gained through his career, moved to a garage / filling station business at Hatfield, Doncaster in 1944, running taxis and HGV recovery service as well. A renowned reputation for excellent service was soon gained – something that remains firmly in place in the family run business today.
Ernest and his wife Florence (Florrie) (1902–1981) dedicated their lives to the business, including round the clock call outs to serve petrol until 1959, when the decision was made to sell Green Tree Garage and move across the road - along with children Dennis (following his return from military service), Noreen and Peter - to begin a new business.
Green Tree Warehousing was therefore established in 1960 by the Camplejohn family, starting from a 5-acre bare field – initially with an agricultural focus including additional farming land, building the first warehouse – sizeable for the time at 3,600sq/ft! Most of the family lived for a short spell inside a wooden cabin within the store, whilst the first domestic dwelling was constructed!
1970's
From an early stage the Company, forged links with world leaders in chemical and textile industries as the site expanded - offering wide ranging services based around the customer’s requirements – this policy is very much at the forefront of today’s dynamic approach to the business.
Over the years, the prime location site (and surrounding area) has continually been developed, whilst the central Motorway network emerged around it creating an excellent transport infrastructure – not forgetting the welcome re-opening of former R.A.F. Finningley airfield as Robin Hood Doncaster Sheffield – international freight / passenger airport.
The first 30 years focused primarily on high volume contracts in chemicals and textile industry, including bulk & bag shipments and transfers, product blending & sieving, container re-packs, export-packing, groupage, trials and development, etc. A dedicated, adaptable workforce / management team able to deal with the most demanding workload schedule, pioneered new grounds in areas previously thought to be impractical or unworkable!
The next 15 years witnessed significant change as the primary industry infrastructure changed throughout the U.K. – but rather than driving the Company out of existence, Green Tree Warehousing saw an opportunity for change and successfully adapted.
In the early 90’s, DuPont Nylon as a prime example entrusted ‘Green Tree’ to handle a major packaging project involving high volume item refurbishment, assembly and ‘tracking’ of re-usable goods (part of today’s ‘reverse logistics’ / role), and supply chain management (SCM). Similar operations have since been successfully carried out for other divisions with a ‘working partner’ style approach employed throughout in order to achieve maximum efficiency.
Ageing parts of the site were redeveloped into dedicated units complete with offices, excellent security features and ‘value-adding’ service options. The larger warehouses were restructured to include small pick & pack orders, palletised goods VNA racked (for multi product & batch option) or blocked to suit even the smallest volume Customer, container de-stuffing (inc’ palletise by batch / type), specialist products / loads, pallet repairs with equipment and facilities to suit.
‘Green Tree’ has successfully adapted to modern day expectations, providing factory support to Customers of all sizes, dealing pro-actively in the area of ‘waste control’ recognising the importance of environmental issues, carrying out integral waste segregation for the re-cycling process whilst maintaining an immaculate ‘green’ site in the truest sense of the word. In fact 1995 brought recognition of the Company’s achievements in the latter sectors, via the ‘Environmental Best Practice’ award issued by the Metropolitan Borough Council, enforced since then via ‘Continued Best Practice’ awards - presented for maintaining those same meticulously high standards.
Safety, Health & Environmental (SHE) considerations are an integral part of all activities carried out, with text book standards endorsed by relevant bodies, whilst Quality policies driving for continual improvement combined with SHE have been ranked highly in Blue-Chip Company supplier audits.
Advanced I.T. systems play a key role in the Company’s daily operation – handling Inventory Control and Supply Chain Management cost-effectively - adding value to the core services. Business expertise mated with bespoke computer programs have driven down costs realising new business potential – affording Green Tree’s Customers a competitive advantage in their market sectors.
2005
The Company believes that the future for such well-placed contracted
out warehousing / logistics operations remains bright – without question,
the fast developing transport infrastructure around Doncaster combined
with economical property rentals will enhance an already enticing proposition.
As outsourcing to 3rd party logistics providers (3PLs) increases, effective
Supply Chain Solutions, innovative Logistics and Value-adding services
are paramount – enabling each Customer to focus on their core business
activities. Many logistics service Companies may offer just that – however
Green Tree Warehousing remain well placed to offer a competitive edge
through effective inner resources - providing high value service without
compromise to service quality.
