100 – NOT OUT

Geoff Archer succinctly sums it up: “It was just weird,” he says. “On 22nd May 2020 – the 100th anniversary of when we began – all the staff were furloughed and we didn’t even have one motor on the road.” While his father Ken adds: “We managed to trade all the way through the Second World War but this pandemic managed to stop us in our tracks. What a crazy few months it’s been.”

Yes, at the time when Covid-19 was just starting to come out of its rampant worst, there was little in the way of celebration to mark the PW Archer special day. And while Team Archer are all now back into action – and a lot busier than some – Ken has taken the decision to step down from his administrative role: “I was still going into the office until the lock down started,” he says, “but quite honestly at 76 years old everyone was concerned about my general well being. And I thought it was time for me to offi cially retire.”

When to make the transition from one generation to another is something every family firm has to face – and decide upon – but when you have gone through 100 years (and four generations) it’s a challenge that has regularly been met and dealt with by the much travelled Archer family. As has the decision of what your core work should be and in that respect the current Archer traffic is a blend of something old and something more new. Albeit with both sharing the personal input of good service.

Cornish Roots

Although they have given