On The Move
As sales of new furniture steadily increased in the late 1940's, and Jerry and Leslie's auction work continued to grow, deliveries became a problem. The simple answer was to apply for a 'B' licence to transport furniture. After an initial refusal due to opposition from local transport rivals, they won their appeal and were now able to deliver furniture from the shop, collect goods to put into auction and carry out removals.
The household removals side of the business soon grew, and a larger vehicle became necessary to cope with the demand. An 800cu.ft. furniture van was specially built at Tayfen Garage, Bury, followed by a second soon afterwards. In 1953 Tim Reardon joined the firm. Tim, who was engaged to Jerry’s daughter Peggy initially ran Brentgovel Street with Frank Glasswell, but was soon to take over the running of the removals business which was developing out of the firm's small fleet of delivery vehicles. When British Road Services firm Pickfords was de-nationalised in the mid 1950's, their fleet of removal vehicles was put up for sale and Jerry and Leslie took a trip to London and bought two of them. This enabled Tim to considerably expand his side of the business.
Later on, in 1976, Tim handed over the removals to Fred Raison, who joined the firm as a driver in 1969 and was to play an important part in the takeover of Howard and Moss, another local firm of removers, in 1988. Fred was eventually to take on responsibility for removals, storage and furniture deliveries from the new Kempson Way Warehouse.
Removals and Transport, Glasswells goes worldwide
Today, Glasswells removals and storage business is run from a purpose built 57,000sq.ft. warehouse at Moreton Hall, using a fleet of 8 modern specially constructed removals vehicles manned by 30 dedicated and experienced staff. There are also a number of smaller vans operating daily furniture deliveries throughout the region. Over the past 60 years, Glasswells have moved thousands of families all over the country, some many times over. In more recent years, operations have moved further afield with an international service run by Lez Hill, handling removals and furniture deliveries throughout Europe and the rest of the world. After 36 years of service, Fred Raison has now taken a back seat in the removals business which is now managed by Bob Allen.