Transport operator JJ Lawson is celebrating its 50th year of business by looking back at the people who founded and grew the great Aussie company.
James John Lawson, affectionately known as Jim, was born in 1941 right in the middle of World War II to parents Murray & Lily. The family lived in the Sydney suburb of Mosman where Jim grew up with his three older siblings Barbara, David and Robin and two younger siblings, Bob and Bill. Jim has always been family orientated and enjoyed spending time with his parents and siblings while also having passions for football, sailing and just knocking about with mates.
Showing entrepreneurial tendencies from an early age, Jim had a number of part time jobs while still a schoolboy including delivering papers, early morning milk deliveries and helping out the chemist with local deliveries after school. Without even realising it, delivering goods and the early concepts of transportation was part of his DNA.
His first ‘proper’ job came in 1958 with Jackson & Spring Pty Ltd in Bathurst Street, Sydney. It was a family business with the owner Jim Jackson, his wife Verlie and son Arthur running the business. Jim learned a lot from his early endeavours in the workforce and carried these experiences and knowledge with him into his future career.
In 1962, Jim obtained his Customs Brokers license and at the time was the youngest person in NSW to be licensed. A year later, Jim married Jenny and the Lawson family was established. The couple enjoyed a few years together before their first son, Marty, was born in 1969, swiftly followed by Gavin in 1970 and Greg in 1974. The three boys completed the family and the next three decades were filled with rugby league, socialising, backpacking and general testosterone fuelled fun.
Jim instilled in the boys his love of rugby league and of course the mighty North Sydney Bears. The Lawson family would be often found at North Sydney Oval on a Sunday afternoon watching the likes of John Gray, Mark Graham and later Greg Florimo.
In the early 1970’s, Mr Jim Jackson retired, and Jackson & Spring was sold to Royal Interocean Lines. This event prompted Jim (Lawson) to branch out with his own business and on April 1, 1975 in a small office in Coleman Street Mascot, directly behind the building that JJ Lawson now owns and operates the Customs & Freight business from, JJ Lawson Pty Ltd was established.
The business began as a small custom brokerage, fuelled by immense family support and financially sustained by Jim himself. Jim’s wife, Jenny, was a great asset running the household and helping with the books in the evenings. Jim’s hard work and dedication in servicing his clients soon gained him loyal customers and the business steadily grew. JJ Lawson has retained some clients from those early days.
Noticing a deficit in the industry and to boost reliability, Jim purchased his first truck in in the early 1980s to replace the sub-contractor service JJ Lawson had then been highly reliant upon. This move saw great improvement in the transportation of goods as the company took vertical control of the supply chain. From here, JJ Lawson expanded adding transportation to the customs broking side of the business. This was followed with purchase of further trucks, and later into warehousing.
Jim built his company on core values of exceptional service, fairness and honesty to both his customers and staff. Family connections extend beyond the immediate Lawson family with several brother and sister, father and son and brothers in law combinations working in the business.
Highlighting Jim’s strong focus on exceptional service is a great tale that has now become legend at JJ Lawson. In the earlier days, a small parcel went missing from a delivery on route, literally falling out of the delivery truck. Through meticulous back tracing and detective work the parcel was located, floating in the Lane Cove River in Sydney. Not one to give up, Jim himself hired a canoe and paddled out to retrieve it. The parcel was delivered and to this day that same dedication to service continues to shine at JJ Lawson.
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These core values also extend to the wider community with Jim and JJ Lawson Pty Ltd supporting many local sporting teams and community groups over the last 50 years. For over 20 years the Lawsons have worked closely with Surf Life Saving NSW supporting their state and country carnivals by providing transport and storage facilities. They have been long time sponsors of the Collaroy Surf Club March Past team called “The Bears”, supported many local soccer, tag and football teams plus several charitable organisations and events over the years. The family business has proudly supported the mighty North Sydney Bears since the early 1980s. The family’s passion for the red and black has been an ongoing and reliable support for the club, through thick and thin.
Although it was never expected or assumed that the Lawson boys would join the business, all three siblings have proudly represented the company. Jim’s second son, Gavin, was first to join the business in 1995 after completing a plumbing trade. Greg followed a few years later in 1999 after finishing his electrical trade and eldest son, Martin “Marty” came on board in 2002 after also completing an electrical trade and working in the industry prior. Gavin sadly passed away in 2001.
“It was the right time for me to join the family business. I’d gained a lot of experience in other industries and also wanted to be closer to Dad after the loss of our brother Gavin,” Marty says.
From the early 2000s the family began discussions regarding succession planning. Jim often talked about dropping down to a four-day week – this never happened, and he remained at the helm of the group until 2018. 2007 was a crucial year for JJ Lawson as the family held an important meeting to decide the future of the company. The options discussed were to continue running as a family business with Jim stepping down from control over a staged period or to sell the business. This is a very real struggle for many family organisations and a decision not taken lightly.
Shortly after this meeting, Jim announced to all staff that the plan was for his two sons, Marty and Greg, to carry on the company. In true Lawson style, Jim stated that it would be “business as usual, I am leaving the car running with the keys in the ignition”. The transition occurred smoothly with Marty taking control of the Customs and Freight group while Greg headed up the Transport and Warehousing business. Each group now operates its own staff and facilities, while remaining united as one business.
Under the reigns of Marty and Greg, JJ Lawson has continued to thrive since Jim’s retirement in 2018. Over the last 50 years, JJ Lawson has grown organically from a two-man office in Mascot to an operation consisting of over 60 staff operating from two sites in Sydney providing customs clearance, freight forwarding, storage and transport services to thousands of customers.
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