Behind the scenes

The Irish Truck and Motor Show is the brainchild of truck fest fanatics Gabriel Piggott and Finbarr O’Flaherty of Full Throttle Ltd. John Loughran reports.

Gabriel Piggott and Finbarr O’Flaherty are self-confessed truck fest fanatics and veterans of the European truck fest circuit. From Peterborough to Assen they have bought the books and worn the T-shirts.

Their passion for all things trucking has brought Finbarr and Gabriel all over the UK and continental Europe. As connoisseurs of the European truck fest scene, they are acutely aware of the demands of running a top class trucking event.

The pair first cut their teeth in event management, as part of the South / West Truckers’ club, which organised the highly successful Irish Truck Fest at Limerick Racecourse in 2002. Some three years later truckers are still raving about the 2002 event.

Thoughts of organising the Irish Truck and Motor Show 2005 first surfaced on a balmy evening at Limerick Racecourse last summer, when Piggott and O’Flaherty bumped into racecourse manager Angus Houston.

Houston knew the pair from their involvement in the 2002 event and was anxious to float the notion of re-incarnating a Limerick based truck fest. Finbarr explained: “The idea first came about over a few beers with Angus Houston. Angus sowed the seed, when he told us there was an opening in the racecourse diary to hold a truck show.”
He continued: “We knew Limerick Racecourse was a fabulous facility for such an event having been involved in organising the Truck Fest in 2002. After a lot of consideration Gabriel and myself, pencilled in an event for 2005.”

“We had looked at several possible venues for the 2002 truck show, and Limerick racecourse was far ahead of the rest in terms of facilities and location. To know the racecourse was available, was a considerable boost to us,” Finbarr recalled.
With the backing of Limerick Racecourse under their belts Piggott and O’Flaherty canvassed support from all of the leading truck importers with a view to staging a truck show in 2005. The pair knew that a successful show would need significant backing from the commercial sector.

“The feedback was extremely positive when we spoke to a number of the importers and other companies working in the trade. In that respect Truckcar Sales in Limerick were very supportive from the outset as was Pat Hickey of Truck & Trailer Spares, Mungret, Limerick. They weighed in with their support straight away. The Irish Road Haulage Association also offered its full support, which was important to us,” he confirmed.

With a venue at their disposal and strong support from the trade Finbarr and Gabriel moved through the gears to establish Full Throttle Ltd. “When we made the decision to proceed, we decided to establish Full Throttle Ltd, with a view to staging the event,” Finbarr confirmed.

He added: “We set up Full Throttle Ltd with the intention of staging the show on an annual basis. But it became obvious that we needed something else to justify the expense of running a limited company.”

The establishment of Full Throttle Ltd opened a window of opportunity for the partners. Their passion for customised working trucks sparked a business idea that fitted snugly with the Irish Truck and Motor Show.

Finbarr enthused: “Both myself and Garbriel have a number of customised working trucks. We know how difficult it is to get quality accessories at competitive prices. Once we established Full Throttle Ltd we decided to import the accessories directly from the UK and the Continent and retail them here.”

To that end the company now carries a wide range of accessories. “We have an extensive range of stainless steel products, which we import from the UK.”
He continued: “We also retail a wide range of cab interiors, which are imported from Holland. The interiors come in a range of materials from leather, to crushed velvet to suede.”

Full Throttle also retails a range of outside continental rear bumpers, side pipes and toolboxes. We also carry a range of bolt on stainless steel products, that is rear wind kits strips and flush lighting, stainless stell front bumpers and continental side monkey lifts etc.”

Visitors to the Irish Truck and Motor Show can cast an eye over Full Throttle’s impressive product range at the company’s exhibition over the weekend. “The Full Throttle accessory launch will take place at the show. We are looking forward to showing visitors what we have to offer,” Finbarr enthused.
“The show is the ideal location to launch our range of accessories, because their will be a lot of enthusiasts there. As enthusiasts ourselves, we have a good idea what people would like,” he noted.

Over the past six months or so the company has depended on word-of-mouth as it main marketing tool. The “bush telegraph” that is somewhat unique to the haulage industry, has been in overdrive, according to Finbarr.

“It has been building nicely over the past six months or so considering we haven’t really advertised it. That is one thing about the trucking community. Truckers talk to truckers all the time. It doesn’t take long for the word to spread,” he added.
The company is currently building its own website, www.fullthrottle.com with a view to spreading the word. “The website is currently under construction. When it is complete, visitors will be able to view our product range online. All the products will be there for everybody to view,” he enthused.

Finbarr and Gabriel are confident that the company’s range of accessories will go down well with visitors. They are equally confident that their products are competitively priced.
He revealed: “We have been able to significantly reduce the importation costs, which means we can pass the savings on to the customer. Consequently our product range is extremely competitively priced.”

Accessories can give a truck that distinctive look that sets its apart from the pack. In that light the company is ready, willing and available to discuss individual customer requirements.
“If we haven’t got what the customer is looking for, we can get it to order in a matter of two to three weeks,” Finbarr affirmed.

The Full Throttle accessories stand will certainly be worth a visit at some stage over the weekend. Just leave plenty of time to view the myriad of accessories on offer!
*Finbarr and Gabriel would like to acknowledge the encouragement and support they have received from their wives Martina and Katrina. “They have been heavily involved in organising the Irish Truck & Motor 2005 and deserve great credit for all their hard work and support. This event won’t have been possible without their support,” Finbarr explained.