Delivering success for over 75 years. In 1947, David Moody returned to Civvy Street after serving his country in WW2. He resumed his job with the local Co-op delivering produce to the residents of Bedlington. He used a horse and cart.
But David could spot a potential opportunity. He bought a coal delivery business and, under his guidance, it did extremely well. However the closure of the mines and the miners’ strikes meant that the company needed to look elsewhere for an alternative source of revenue and activity so in 1990 the company entered into a partnership with British Rail to develop an overnight parcel operation. It introduced D.Moody Haulage to the world of overnight multi-drop deliveries.
The next phase of the business was spotted by Alan Moody, David’s son. He could see the potential of the new pallet networks which were beginning to emerge that offered ‘just in time’ smaller quantity single pallets rather than a full load. His foresight meant he was a founding member of the Pall-Ex network, which has since grown to become a leading provider of palletised freight distribution services across the UK and Europe. Over 70 per cent of Moody’s business is now within the Pall-Ex overnight distribution market.
“Back in 1999, palletised overnight deliveries were a relatively new concept, but I saw an opportunity to grow the business and take it in a new direction, and gladly for all concerned, that proved to be the case,” said Alan. “I’m proud to say it has made this firm both more successful and competitive within the industry and has also helped revolutionise the logistics sector.”
The company has continued to develop. It moved to a much bigger, seven acre site at Bolam Business Park in Cramlington. Not only did it become a new base for the staff and vehicles, it meant that new storage facilities were available. Consequently, in 2007 the business changed its trading name to Moody Logistics and Storage.
Eleven years ago, MCR (modify, create, rework) was created as an extension to the firm’s portfolio offering major retailers and businesses a facility which allowed the inspection, reworking and packaging of their products, much of which arrives on our shores from overseas. If something is wrong with the product or perhaps an order has changed, MCR can sort it.
After a life building Moody Logistics and Storage, Alan has taken more of a backseat since 2014 and is now Chairman, handing over the day to day running of the firm to his daughter Caroline who is now Group Managing Director.
“We’ve recently invested over £1million into the business, most of which has been used to expand our fleet to 34 vehicles,” says Caroline. “It’s a response to the growing demand for our services and means we can offer our customers complete flexibility and allow us to deliver to tight city centres as well as national distribution hubs and industrial complexes. We tailor our transport to the customer’s requirements. We’ve added a pair of Iveco artics, four 18 tonne Iveco curtain sided trucks and a 3.5 tonne Isuzu Decker City loader plus a variety of single and double deck trailers. We also have a further two 18 tonne and one artic to arrive later this year.
“We are a family firm…my brother Richard is Operations Director; my brother-in law, Gavin, is the Engineering Director and of course my father, Alan, still takes a keen interest as Chairman…we have family values which we try to instil across the entire business. This is reflected in the way we deal with our customers. Customer care has been…and always will be… at the core of what we do.
“I’d like to think that our customers see us part of their business because we are either at the start of what they do by delivering raw materials to them, or we are at the end by taking their products to market. We always need to do a professional job because it would reflect badly on our customers.”
The flexibility within the Moody Logistics and Storage fleet means they can handle anything from 1 to 48 pallets either as a full or part load. If you have a container coming into the UK, Moody’s can collect it with one of their skeletal trailers and deliver it to you. They can even take the container to their secure warehouses and either unpack it for storage or sort the goods and deliver them to multiple customers on your behalf.
The company maintains and services its fleet via a sister firm, Heathline Commercials who are based next door to Moody’s in Cramlington. Their purpose-built facility can look after servicing, repairs and parts for all HGVs, buses, vans, trailers and horse boxes.
In other words, if you need something moving or delivered, Moody’s Logistics and Storage can cope. They can even help you maintain and repair your own vehicles.
Moody’s Logistics and Storage…here’s to the next 75 years of delivering success.