Pall-Ex boss Hilary Devey admitted this week that her dreams of creating a new Pallet network nearly went up in flames just before the opening night. She told 400 guests at Pall-Ex's 10th anniversary dinner that she dropped a cigarette on the floor of her office (in a temporary building) just before she left for the night. When she got home she was called by a fork lift truck driver who told her that there were flames coming from her office. Fortunately they were put out and the rest is history.
Life in the early days was not easy, she recalled. She initially had trouble getting a £20,000 overdraft for the company after a financial adviser said that the business plan would never work. Now, she says, finance companies are queuing up to lend her money. Another problem was that the original mobile building had no running water and one chemical toilet. That was not much of a help in recruiting women who had to be told that the toilet had to be shared with the truck drivers.
Pall-Ex has two new Irish members: Ace Express, which operates in all ofReed Business Information Limited.©2008
