Jack Richards company history

The company was started in at Haddenham Cambridgeshire in May 1956 by Jack Richards, trading as J.W Richards with a five ton Bedford lorry, which he bought for £150.

The business became very successful after offering a nightly service from Cambridgeshire to the Nottingham wholesale fruit and vegetable market. Customers were soon added in the Mansfield area as were regular trips to Ripley and Derby markets.

By the early 1960s the nightly market runs also included services to Leicester, Coventry and Birmingham as well as the London markets. With this rapid growth in services offered the fleet grew accordingly and by 1969 it had grown to 27 vehicles.

In 1971 because of a growing demand to haul produce from Norfolk it was decided that a business would be opened in Fakenham. Jack took the decision to use Fakenham as a base because he considered it to be the crossroads of North Norfolk. Everything leaving the North Norfolk area regardless of whether it is going North, South, East or West needed to pass through Fakenham.

With 5 new units and trailers purchased and 5 local drivers employed but with no yard or office premises to operate from, it very soon became obvious to Jack there was plenty of work in the area and he needed a base. After approaching North Norfolk District Council, Jack managed to initially purchase one and a half acres of land on the new industrial estate in the town. An office building and workshops were built including underground fuel storage tanks and the Fakenham depot was soon operational.

With Fakenham Depot open and the ever increasing demand for quality fresh produce the fleet grew rapidly and with it the numbers of staff. During the mid seventies the company earned the title of "Britain’s number one spud specialist" and with the capability of moving 1000 tons of potatoes a day and although unofficial it was a most deserved accolade.

With the Fakenham depot being very busy Jack was spending most of the week in the town so the decision was taken to close the Haddenham depot in 1977. By this time the wholesale fruit markets were in decline, mainly due to the rapidly increasing amount of supermarkets. Instead of going to market produce was going to packing stations where it would be washed, graded and packed before being despatched on to the supermarkets. This resulted in even more work for the company as they were now transporting produce from the farm to the packing station and then onward to the supermarkets.

With steady growth of the company and a developing customer base the company was moving more in to general haulage. Curtainside trailers became more popular and because of the high quality of service the company became hauliers for many blue chip companies.

With the development of the company came the expansion into the North West, with customers like Lever Bros... and Kellogg’s, the need for some sort of base in the area started with a few parking spaces in the Warrington area but quickly grew into a 2 acre premises with office and warehouse facilities. Before the end of the 3 year lease the rapid increase in business meant the company had outgrown this site also.

After lots of searching a 5 acre site was found in the Northwich area of Cheshire, the site was purchased in 1998 and recently an adjoining site of 3 acres has been purchased and is currently being developed.

Over the years the site at Fakenham has been expanded to meet the demands of the expanding company. With the office block and workshops being enlarged and warehousing facilities increased. The site now covers an area over 7 acres in size.

The operation was formed in 1994 with Jack Richards being one of the founding member companies. Due to the ever increasing demand for a quality overnight palletised freight service a purpose built warehouse and office complex was built at Fakenham in 2005.

For many years Jack and his son Anthony had managed the company supported by a management team at both Fakenham and Northwich, but with the company continuing to expand it became apparent to Jack and Anthony that if they were going to progress with the expansion of the company then they would need support of an experienced management professional. . Peter Brown was appointed in 2006 and brings to Jack Richards & Son Ltd many years experience from within the transport and logistics industry.

Peter very quickly settled into his role and immediately opened up new opportunities for the company. The customer base of the company has grown and with that the demand for our services. To satisfy this demand the size of fleet and the required resources have also grown.

With a very experienced and committed management team at both Fakenham and Northwich using the very latest in traffic planning and vehicle tracking software we at Jack Richards & Son Ltd are confident that we are prepared for further expansion as the demand for our services continues to grow.