The
70s
Ian wanted a new challenge and won a contract with the Post
Office delivering parcels. Further canvassing led Ian to
win a contract with a local veterinary drugs company (Turner
Staines Laboratories)
who were supplying veterinary drugs to wholesalers in the South East
of England, Ian would travel to London back and forth three times
a week quite often working through the night. By 1972 Ian was employing
two staff, in this period the company was named Ingram’s
Express Deliveries, which basically described what Ingram’s
were doing during that period.
Although
Ian’s younger brother Malcolm was assisting
part time he did not officially join the company until April 1973 as
a wages clerk come porter. From 1972 to 1975 Ingram’s continued with their
express delivery service and royal mail contracts. By 1975 Ingram’s
were quickly expanding their fleet purchasing first Ford wagons then
coach built Bedford wagons to use in their steadily growing retail furniture
delivery service, haulage and domestic removal business. That same year
Ingram’s changed their name to Ingram’s Removers and
Storers.
In
the early years Ingram’s had several different bases
in South West Durham until 1976 when they moved into their present
warehouse and offices at Percy / Morland Street in Bishop Auckland. In
the 1970’s and 80’s Ingram’s were running a removal
business and haulage business along parallel lines, however it was
becoming apparent that the removal and storage business was more lucrative
than the haulage business. Slowly but surely in the early to mid 80’s
the haulage side of the business was wound down and fazed out, never
to return.
By 1979 Ingram’s had become members of the prestigious British
Association of Removers, competing for work and contracts on
an equal footing with the well established firms and multi national companies
in the area.
The
80s
Ingram’s
were hit side ways with a tragedy in March 1980 when a member of their
HGV staff Norman Walton was
killed in an unprovoked attack. The story was extensively covered by
the media with nightly coverage of the story on both BBC and ITV
Tyne Tees. His assailant,
a hitch hiker Norman had picked up on his return from a delivery in
the West Midlands, was arrested on the Isle of Wight, brought to justice
and consequently received a 12 year jail sentence. Norman was just
34 years old.
In
1982 after the Falklands conflict Ingram’s won contracts
with the British Army to store army personnel’s
furniture and effects for three years while the government deployed
regiments to strengthen army garrisons in places as far afield as Germany,
Belize, and Gibraltar.
The
revenue from these contracts contributed to Ingram’s embarking
on a major project to have fully functional container stores complete
with container wagons and fork-lift truck by the spring of 1985. The
process was so quick and efficient it caught out the local manager of
a multi-national removal company, who insisted to a potential customer
Ingram’s
were not containerised. Consequently, and not surprisingly, this individual
turned down the offer of a guided tour of Ingram’s storage depository.
The
next decade from 1985 to 1995 saw a steady increase in Ingram’s
commercial moving services.
The 90s
The significant shift from Domestic removal
work to commercial moving was particularly welcome due to the housing
recession which reached a peak in 1992.
William Edward Ingram (Bill) the founder of the business
passed away in 1995; Bill was always a friendly face around the office
and warehouse and even at the age of 79 was still pursuing his entrepreneurial
skills.
Vehicle
presentation has always been important to Ingram’s,
by the early 90’s Ingram’s had switched their wagon fleet
from Fords and the defunct Bedfords
to the superior Mercedes
Benz. Their
fitting department was wound up in this period and servicing and repairs
switched to Bell Trucks, the Mercedes main dealer in the area. This partnership
still exists to this present day.
The New Century
The year 2000 saw Ingram’s venture into Documentation
Storage; this business has steadily grown over several
years with both the public sector and private sector storing their
document archives with Ingram’s. The company’s domestic
containerised storage service continues to provide a steady income.
In 2002 Ingram’s joined the prestigious Commercial
Moving Group, an extended arm of the British Association of
Removers. In 2004 Ingram’s were awarded BS
12522 accreditation
for services to the domestic removal industry.
Although Ingram’s premises have been burglar alarmed for
many years a review in 2008 led to CCTV being
fitted for extra security.
In this same period 20 ft metal self sealed containers in their own
secure compound 3 miles away from Ingram’s main depot were introduced
to cope with Ingram’s customer demand for commercial storage.

In 2009, Ingram’s were awarded the latest New British Standard
for Commercial Moving by BAR - BS 8522.
In
2010 Ingram's commissioned local artist Eric
Thompson of Bondgate
Galleries in Bishop Auckland to re create a scene from 1988 when Ingram's
were contracted to move local government services from Bishop
Auckland Town Hall, Old Bank Chambers and The Elms (Not shown on the painting)
to the then newly built Wear Valley District Council (Council now defunct)
Headquarters The Civic Centre in Crook, Co Durham. Click
the image to
view a Full Size version of the artwork.
July 2010 Ingram's open new depot for Archive Storage - Century Court, Henson Close, South Church Enterprise Park, Bishop Auckland, DL14 6WA. Due to the success of Ingram's archive storage services it was necessary in the summer of 2010 to open a second documentation storage depot to cater for the growing demand for commercial documentation storage. The premises were specifically designed internally to maximise space and vehicle manoeuvrability by our Site Manager - Steve Santon. Site Security System fitted and Managed by Barrier Surveillance. Archive storage containers built & manufactured by Simpson Packaging
A successful business does not run without efficient, conscientious
and motivated staff and Ingram’s are no exception to this rule.
I’m sure Ingram’s staff would agree this story could
not be concluded without mentioning Steve Santon who
has been with the company through thick and thin (apart from a brief
entrepreneurial pub landlord period) since 1979. His “friendly” daily
banter exchanges over the years with Ian have become legendary. Hover over the images below to view the names of the people in Ingram's team.

Without fear of contradiction Ingram’s can now boast to be
the most experienced independent removal company in the
whole of County Durham with 50 years experience in the business. |