DRIVE-throughs seem to pop up everywhere at the moment – whether it be for coffees, a burger or even a Greggs.
But one Dorset businessman has spotted a gap in the market: a drive-through concrete plant.
Carters Concrete, in Henbury Lane Industrial Estate off Old Market Road north of Lytchett Minster, has invested £250,000 in new equipment to bring this idea to life.
Only three drive-through concrete plants exist in the UK and, needless to say, Carters Concrete has cemented itself as Dorset’s very first.
Company boss Jay Connor, 46, said: “We saw the idea online from a company in the north and we’re now the fourth business to do this.
“We’d been looking at collection plants ourselves and thought this was unique and quirky and believe it is current with today’s market.
“Some people don’t want to be bothered; they just want to come in, use a machine and then go.”
The self-service process couldn’t be simpler: you pull up in your lorry, use a touch screen pad to pick your mix design, pay, park under a belt while the concrete is poured in and off you go.
Scott Houghton, of concrete supplier CDT, said the process is easy: “The customer is in control, they select the product they want and the amount.
“We would expect the customer to understand the product they need, but knowledgeable staff will be around to help out with that if not.
“They then check out with a contactless payment system that can be done by smartphone or chip and pin.
“You then pull up in your lorry underneath the blue dot, that will guide you where to park, and you get your concrete.
“This will produce high quality concrete in a small space of time and Jay is the first on the south coast to have this.”
Carters Concrete is a relatively new business, founded just two years ago and named after Jay and his wife Lucy’s youngest son Carter.
Jay added: “We think this is an important thing for our business; it allows customers to get their concrete quickly.
“Sometimes people don’t want to stop and chat, they’ve got to get their job done quickly, and this enables that.”
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