I’ve just thought of a couple of names that were around the L/B area a few years ago, Freemans were out near Heath & Reach, they had two tone blue TK Bedford artics, there was another name in the same yard thats escapes me, but someone will know!
Another one was Gordon Heeps, I think they were grey, but I remember they were typical of the day and sometimes not very tidy!
If you have a morning spare go to the Bedfordshire records office and look through some old Kellys directories, they should bring up every haulage firm since horse and cart days! but it can be time consuming because if you’re like me and home in on anything that mentions a lorry you could be in there for days.