1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136 
LANGDONS HISTORY
Page 39
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Langdons can trace its history back to the late 1890s, when the Langdon family were farmers and trappers in Somerset, but it wasn't until 1955 that the firm entered road transport when Tom Vale Transport was formed. Philip and William Langdon developed the haulage business in the 1950s and '60s, buying Taunton Meat Haulage and making its first move into chilled distribution.
In 1974, Philip Langdon sold the business to TKM Ltd, and in 1980 Mike Donoghue was appointed managing director. In 1986 Donoghue led a management buyout of the business. The big boom was to come in the late 1990s and early 2000s with a series of large contract wins led by the fad for Proctor & Gamble's fruit juice drink Sunny Delight.
With the approaching retirement of the management team, the directors began a search for an exit strategy, resulting in the 2004 sale to the Nagel Group.