The BIG Interview – David Steven, Managing Director of D. Steven & Son D. Steven & Son has been operating in the North of Scotland since the 1920s and were proud to celebrate its 100th year in business in 2020. Primarily providing haulage services to the seafood, fishing, oil and agricultural industries, D. Steven & Son has won various prestigious industry awards over the years including the Transport News awards in 2021 and Scottish Haulage Company of the Year 2022. Gray & Adams are proud to have a longterm relationship with them as a valued customer. For this issue of the BIG Interview, we sat down with Managing Director, David Steven to discuss his company and the long standing relationship between our businesses.
strategic focus has shifted to national business over the last couple of years. We supply highly recognisable products, such as farmed salmon, to supermarkets and wholesalers across Britain through our network of 56 full-time employees, 16 parttime employees and 55 trailers.
How long has D. Steven & Son been working with Gray & Adams?
How do you feel the D. Steven & Son business aligns to the Gray & Adams business?
What have been the impacts of Covid-19 for D. Steven & Son? We feel that we have been more protected from the impacts of Covid-19 compared to other businesses in heavily populated locations, however we put the required regulations in place to protect our colleagues and customers. The location of our HQ is some distance away from the largest cities in Scotland, meaning that we did not have the same risks as areas with larger populations. However, the demand for seafood went down within our usual market, fortunately this has now picked up again.
The two businesses have worked together for many years. The relationship first began when my father bought a rigid body trailer from Jim Gray Snr back in the 1960s, prior to Gray & Adams moving into the refrigeration market. The relationship has since continued, and we have been working regularly with them since the 1980s to purchase trailers.
Gray & Adams’ ethos aligns very well with our own. We are a family business, as is G&A and we find that through the shared experience of running a family business we have found we have a lot in common, including shared values. They are also very nice people to work with which makes the process of working with them incredibly easy!
What services do D. Steven & Son provide and in which sectors? We primarily distribute seafood from local businesses and fisheries in the North of Scotland across the UK and the EU. Due to the impact of Brexit, our international business has changed, and our main
65th Anniversary
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