Joining JJ Foodservice was like “stepping on a rocket” – says Mick Montague, Chief Transport Officer at JJ Foodservice who has been with JJ since the very beginning.
As he steps into retirement, Mick shares his 34-year story at JJ Foodservice, from the moment he met our CEO to how they made "miracles happen" every day.
Caption: Mick Montague (pictured left); Mustafa Kiamil, JJ Foodservice CEO (centre) and Huseyin Kamil (right)
So how did you first come across JJ Foodservice?
It was a Saturday afternoon in 1989; I was working in my garage and a red, open-top, Mercedes sports car pulled up. The driver asked if I could fix four of his vehicles.
I owned my own garage at the time, it was called Woodland Commercial.
That’s how me and Mustafa Kiamil (JJ's CEO) first met. He wanted me to fix three vans and a banged up Ford Sierra, to help him get his first business off the ground.
It wasn’t long before Mustafa said to me, “You’re working for me now – bring all your boys and your equipment,” .... and I did. That was the beginning. I had no idea that I’d just stepped onto a rocket.
"Not only did we fill the warehouse up – we bought the site next door!"
At the time, my garage was bigger than Mustafa’s, but he kept buying more vehicles and the business quickly grew. I told Mustafa that he needs one blueprint for all transport at JJ – so we agreed a design and ended up with 50 vehicles for that one depot.
The first branch was a small building round the back of Wood Green.
The business quickly outgrew that branch, and we started looking to re-locate.
At the time, I had a friend that made dresses and clothes – he had a large warehouse that he was looking to sell. Mustafa went to see it and said, “We will never fill this up – it’s huge!”
Caption: Mick inspired the blueprint for the first official JJ Foodservice vehicles
Six months after buying it, not only did we fill it up – but we bought the site next door. Over time, Mustafa purchased all the other units in the estate, too.
What was the eating out market like back then?
Back then, everyone loved eating burgers and hot dogs – people were not as health conscious as they are now.
We worked hard and every evening, we received a delivery of six 40-foot lorries full of chips.
Our freezer could only fit one lorry full, so we had to carefully stagger the deliveries.
"Even Mustafa’s dad was here. It was a family firm, and, on the weekend, Mustafa would make a BBQ for everyone."
It was a small team of us back then – Mushtaque, Khaled, Terry, and Arthur. Even Mustafa’s dad was here. It was a family firm, and, on the weekend, Mustafa would make a BBQ for everyone.
My job got a lot busier – I oversaw recruiting and training the drivers. You’d get 50-60 turning up on a Saturday morning, mainly Eastern Europeans and a good mix of other nationalities.
People were working day shifts; night shifts and we had both drivers and helpers.
At first, some drivers didn’t speak great English, so we’d use coloured tape to show them which cases contained which quantity of burger buns and chip bags.
Once we grew the range to more than 2000 – using tape became a lot harder to do!
What was your average day like?
It was physical work – we loaded 130 vehicles a night and even did second runs. It had to be slick, and people had to get on as a team.
We were so busy, and vehicles were so full that we were closing the doors of the vehicles with fork-lift trucks! Every week, we made miracles happen.
There are systems in place now, it’s all automated and computerised. You place orders online, get notifications and updates. But back then, thirty years ago, it was physical work.
"We worked hard but everyone was happy. We owned our own garage and our own destiny. No one could stop us”
We worked hard but everyone was happy. We owned our own garage and our own destiny. No one could stop us! We started out with Mercedes vehicles (7.5ton) but as the laws changed, we moved on to HGV.
Bringing in the Isuzu vehicles was a real turning point for JJ Foodservice – they were unknown in the UK back then, but they were bullet proof.
So, I called Nikki King who was the CEO back then for Isuzu in the UK, she had her number on a poster. I said, “Hi Nikki, I’d like to buy a vehicle” and she said, “Oh really, how many?” – I said, “20-40” and she was in my office within ten minutes. And we ended up buying 50.
“I remember telling Mustafa how much it was going to cost, and he did the calculations on the back of a cigarette box.”
They were 7.5 tonne vehicles, that’s all they had back then. This was in 2000. I remember telling Mustafa how much it was all going to cost, and he did the calculations on the back of a cigarette pack.
What do you think helped JJ to grow so quickly?
Mustafa was very good at building relationships with suppliers – he paid them early and they liked that. He understood what people wanted and he treated them fairly.
There were no contracts, once you shook Mustafa’s hand, that was it.
He never went back on a deal or a promise. He was always supporting other businesses because people you help on their way up will help you on your way down.
"There were no contracts, once you shook Mustafa’s hand, that was it."
I used to go swimming with Mustafa three times a week at the David Lloyd club.
He’d do a few lengths and come out with five years’ worth of ideas and work.
He never sat in an office – he drove the business from the front. We all rolled our sleeves up and dived in together.
That’s the human side of the business – two people standing in a heated pool at night in the cold talking about the plans and how many branches to open.
“Did we know what we were doing back then? No. But we had fun learning along the way.”
A lot of people get snooty when they become successful – but Mustafa never changed. He speaks the same to everyone, regardless of who he is speaking with.
Mustafa was big on health and safety and doing things the right way. Enfield was our first purpose-built site – we had to forecast what kind of business it was going to be in ten years’ time. Mustafa’s friend Gino helped us to open new branches.
I remember a rainy day in Sidcup when everyone was lining up waiting for the branch to open. Gino comes out and all the women are screaming with excitement and cheering.
In the East End, we used to call people like Mustafa a ‘Lucky Face.’ Did we know what we were doing back then? No. But we had fun learning along the way.
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