The Don Watson Group, trading as Don Watson Transport and Coldstores, has announced today that it’s made the difficult decision to close its doors.
The highly-regarded company, one of Australia’s leading refrigerated logistics operations, traces its roots back to 1948 when founder G.H. “Don” Watson would service the markets with a few army surplus K Series Austins. When he died in 1973, his son, Donald Watson took over the reins and launched the revered refrigerated division in 1984.
Third-generation co-owner Lyndon Watson, who is also the managing director of the company, told Big Rigs today that Don Watson Transport would cease collections from the end of this weekend.
“Final collections will be made Sunday, June 9, and delivered over the following days as per consignment requirements. Watson’s Coldstores will remain fully operational as it is introduced to the market for sale, with a focus on securing optimal value as a going concern,” Watson said in a statement shared with Big Rigs.
A copy of a memo to all employees widely circulating on social media today cited the “current economic conditions” as the reason for the closure, but Watson declined to elaborate further.
He stressed, however, that all 300 employees were to be paid all entitlements.
“We’re lucky to be able to close the doors and exit the industry just by paying all the drivers their notice period, entitlements and redundancy.”
He said the equipment – 140 trucks and 170 trailers trucks – would be sold in an “orderly fashion”.
“The transport industry has been great to us and we do really appreciate this opportunity to be able to turn it off and cease operations in a way that will ensure everyone is squared up nicely, and it’s done in a nice way.
“We’d rather not go into the brass tacks [of why] – there are a lot of things that contribute to these kind of decisions. They are hard decisions to make, but you have to make those at times and we’ve got to do what’s best for the family, and what’s best for the industry.
“It’s a great industry and we think it will continue to develop – it’s got a lot of promise.”
Watson said his main focus for now is helping the employees, managing the sale of the equipment, ongoing support for the three coldstores in Melbourne, Wodonga and Sydney, which are now on the market, and helping customers transition to new suppliers.
“The Watson family has benefited from the Australian trucking and warehousing industry over many generations, and we’ve tried to offer back time and effort in kind.
“Thankyou for the wonderful support you’ve offered Watsons over the years and we look forward to seeing the industry continue to develop,” Watson’s parting statement added.
Simon O’Hara, CEO of Road Freight NSW, said Don Watson Transport was an incredibly important part of Australia’s supply chain and its closure is a big loss to the industry.
“Our thoughts are with the operators Noelene and Lyndon and also their employees,” O’Hara said.