Gloucester’s longest standing removals company, Herbert Davis Removals, has become the latest recruit to the ranks of Britannia International.

Herbert Davis began trading way back in 1919 and is now owned and run by Kathy Lugg and Andy Ford who bought the well-known family business in 1998 when the previous owner retired. “I’d joined the company in 1990 as an administrator and Andy joined three years later as an HGV driver,” said Kathy. “We were both given the opportunity to buy the business, but neither of us wanted to go it alone, so we decided to join forces. Andy is brilliant with trucks and with my admin skills we made a pretty good team and we went from strength to strength.”

Last year Kathy had a call from another Britannia member who said there was something of a gap in Britannia’s coverage in the Gloucester area. “We made some enquiries and made an application to join,” said Kathy. “We were both delighted when we were accepted, although we did think carefully about changing our company name after nearly 100 years in the area; but we believe the benefits of being part of a large organisation like Britannia outweigh any of the disadvantages. Also, things like changing the livery of the trucks is done in phases over a period of time, so the familiar red and cream lorries won’t disappear overnight.”

Soon Herbert Davis Removals will celebrate its Centenary and Kathy and Andy are looking forward to this next phase in the company’s long history.

“Sometimes change is good,” said Kathy.

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