killsville:
rich12:
i can remember seeing a few of their motors ready to be sold off in bocs yard at barnsley in the mid 90s,i think boc had bought them out then disposed of the trucks.I think you’re right.
The ERF I bought showed BOC as the previous owner on the log book. I bought fleet no. 383 from a dealer in Coventry in 1996.
Onward was bought by BOC Distribution Services’ short-lived ambient network, BOC Interbrand. Interbrand had been formed by a buyout of Beecham Foods in-house distribution division, PDS (Products Distribution Services) and the idea was that this would form the basis of an ambient network to complement their existing BOC Transhield and G L Baker operations. The chilled side of the group also took on Spalding Haulage (with lots of stored-up legal grief!) around the same time.
Although non-Beecham traffic was added to the business (principally the former Onward traffic, I think - Haribo springs to mind as one customer) they then proceeded to lose the Beecham contract to Wincanton once the initial guaranteed period had expired, and that was the end of BOC Interbrand.
The evoultion of the BOC business is Gist, who still run out of the former Baylis depot at Thornbury (remember the Onward/Baylis link?) for M&S - this was previously used by BOC as the distribution centre for Beecham products from Coleford (Ribena), Maidenhead (OTC medicines) and Slough (Horlicks).
Finally, I seem to recall that Ian Storey, formerly a director of Onward, joined BOC Distribution Services as a director.