Tanks a lot!

In addition to the traditional housing, factory, office and retail developments, the Waterfoot company has built up one of Britain's biggest collections of military vehicles.

A top-of-the-range ex-US Army M47 Patton can be yours for just £25,000 and a Centurion tank from the Swiss Army - no battle scars there, then - is on the market for a cool £18,000. A Russian T55, with just 95 kilometres on the clock, will set you back £16,500 and for those family outings, there is a German Schutzenpander personnel carrier at a comfortable £8,000.

So, just what is a family business in Rossendale doing with enough military hardware to mount a sizeable coup? The collection is the brainchild of company founder and chairman Brian Boys who started out with a single tank ten years ago.

Son Michael - who runs the business with brothers John and Peter - explained that his father had been looking for a new hobby when he spotted a Ferret tank for sale.

"He did his two years' national service with the Military Police and had always collected uniforms and other military memorabilia," he said. "After he had done it up, he sold the Ferret and bought another two tanks and then another three. It has just snowballed from there and we now have around 70 military vehicles of various shapes and sizes."

The company buys and sells the tanks and other hardware - that also includes Jerry cans at £3 and World War 2 shovels at £25 apiece - over the Internet. It also rents them out for film sets, advertising and even weddings. "We had some topless models down the other day which was quite an eye-opener," added Michael.

The collection is currently housed throughout the company's growing property portfolio and Michael is looking forward to the day when his father opens his own museum. The family is scouring East Lancashire for the ideal site which will need to have around 15,000 square feet of floorspace and around an acre of land. Brian Boys started the business in Bacup as a joiner in 1961. After a few years, B&E Boys moved into house building which still remains an important part of the company's operations.

In the 1970s, the company built up its expertise in construction, securing contracts with blue-chip clients such as Woolworths, Norweb, North West Water and the Nat West Bank.

Michael was the first of the brothers to join the business 18 years ago and he has been responsible for its development operations which now encompass more than a million square feet of industrial space around the North West.

"We started off redeveloping old textile mills, splitting them up into small units for new businesses," he said. "As soon as new mills came on the market, we would do them up and rent them out - there was a very big market for that type of space at the time."

In the late 1990s, the company moved out of its Rossendale heartlands and acquired better quality developments in Blackburn and Accrington to augment its portfolio. Its latest big scheme is the J2 Business Park at Bury which offers 100,000 sq ft of manufacturing and warehousing space and 20,000 sq ft of office accommodation.

Another new venture is a move into the 'self store' market. A 15,000 sq ft unit - offering storage space for archiving or for people moving house - has opened in Waterfoot and new sites are being investigated. "People can rent space by the day if they want," explained Michael. "We are very flexible - there is a big market out there."

From its base at Todd Carr Road, B&E Boys now employs more than 90 permanent staff and Michael is proud of the company's record on apprentices.

"We take on young people every year and train our own brick-layers, joiners and plasterers," he said.

"A lot of companies are feeling the backlash of their lack of investment in skilled young people."

With their tank collection behind them, the Boys should never have a problem with bad debts!

FAST-EXPANDING Rossendale construction company B&E Boys has a unique weapon in its sales arsenal as it trains its sights on the opposition - army tanks!

In addition to the traditional housing, factory, office and retail developments, the Waterfoot company has built up one of Britain's biggest collections of military vehicles.

A top-of-the-range ex-US Army M47 Patton can be yours for just £25,000 and a Centurion tank from the Swiss Army - no battle scars there, then - is on the market for a cool £18,000. A Russian T55, with just 95 kilometres on the clock, will set you back £16,500 and for those family outings, there is a German Schutzenpander personnel carrier at a comfortable £8,000.

So, just what is a family business in Rossendale doing with enough military hardware to mount a sizeable coup? The collection is the brainchild of company founder and chairman Brian Boys who started out with a single tank ten years ago.

Son Michael - who runs the business with brothers John and Peter - explained that his father had been looking for a new hobby when he spotted a Ferret tank for sale.

"He did his two two years' national service with the Military Police and had always collected uniforms and other military memorabilia," he said. "After he had done it up, he sold the Ferret and bought another two tanks and then another three. It has just snowballed from there and we now have around 70 military vehicles of various shapes and sizes."

The company buys and sells the tanks and other hardware - that also includes Jerry cans at £3 and World War 2 shovels at £25 apiece - over the Internet. It also rents them out for film sets, advertising and even weddings. "We had some topless models down the other day which was quite an eye-opener," added Michael.

The collection is currently housed throughout the company's growing property portfolio and Michael is looking forward to the day when his father opens his own museum. The family is scouring East Lancashire for the ideal site which will need to have around 15,000 square feet of floorspace and around an acre of land. Brian Boys started the business in Bacup as a joiner in 1961. After a few years, B&E Boys moved into house building which still remains an important part of the company's operations.

In the 1970s, the company built up its expertise in construction, securing contracts with blue-chip clients such as Woolworths, Norweb, North West Water and the Nat West Bank.

Michael was the first of the brothers to join the business 18 years ago and he has been responsible for its development operations which now encompass more than a million square feet of industrial space around the North West.

"We started off redeveloping old textile mills, splitting them up into small units for new businesses," he said. "As soon as new mills came on the market, we would do them up and rent them out - there was a very big market for that type of space at the time."

In the late 1990s, the company moved out of its Rossendale heartlands and acquired better quality developments in Blackburn and Accrington to augment its portfolio. Its latest big scheme is the J2 Business Park at Bury which offers 100,000 sq ft of manufacturing and warehousing space and 20,000 sq ft of office accommodation.

Another new venture is a move into the 'self store' market. A 15,000 sq ft unit - offering storage space for archiving or for people moving house - has opened in Waterfoot and new sites are being investigated. "People can rent space by the day if they want," explained Michael. "We are very flexible - there is a big market out there."

From its base at Todd Carr Road, B&E Boys now employs more than 90 permanent staff and Michael is proud of the company's record on apprentices.

"We take on young people every year and train our own brick-layers, joiners and plasterers," he said.

"A lot of companies are feeling the backlash of their lack of investment in skilled young people."

With their tank collection behind them, the Boys should never have a problem with bad debts!