Family-owned Malton-based food transport firm, Dennis Distribution, is marking 100 years of business with a growing list of food clients across the UK and further plans for diversification.

Established in 1924, Dennis Distribution, began its journey into transport with JD Dennis at its helm, delivering paraffin across the Yorkshire Wolds with horse and cart.

The business was then taken over by Thomas Dennis in 1959, which saw it focus largely on agricultural transport, before venturing into the realm of food transportation, working for what was then Malton Farmers’ Bacon Factory, which remains a customer to this day.

Now employing around 60 people and with a growing turnover, the business has remained family-owned and is now in its third generation, led by Senior Partner, Katie Dennis, who took over the business in 2001.

The last 20 years have seen the business grow in size, pivoting to provide specialist services, which include chilled temperature-controlled, bulk liquid and food transport.

With a head office and garage services at York Road Business Park, Malton and depots across South Yorkshire, Humberside and Lincolnshire, the team work with food and drink customers across the UK and Europe, including prestigious British meat producer, Dovecote Park Ltd and specialist dairy producer Meadow Foods.

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Brexit saw the company carefully navigate the difficulties of export under new legalisations successfully, working closely with several partners to meet the demand for European transport within the company’s services.

The company says it attributes its ongoing success to remaining true to its family ethos and values and growing a loyal customer base centred around partnership, with a team of loyal staff, many of whom have been with the business for over 10 years.

Dennis Distribution has also invested in training and development, working with York-based training provider, Pro-Development to develop management skills of teams across the business.

In celebration of the 100-year milestone, the company is holding a family day and hog roast in September, inviting both staff and customers to join them and engage in a few fundraising activities.

Katie Dennis, Senior Partner at Dennis Distribution said: “It is incredible to be celebrating 100 years of business and I am very proud of what the team have achieved and how we have continued our legacy. From our humble beginnings, we’ve grown into a leading haulage provider in the food industry.

“This growth has been driven by the hard work of our team, our dedication to continually investing in our fleet, innovative solutions, and our unwavering commitment to providing a high-quality service that our customers can rely on.”

The business offers a broad range of haulage services including chilled and frozen transport, bulk liquid transport, hanging meat transport, ambient transport and are proudly BRC and DTAS accredited. It also carries its own fridge and mechanical repairs in its onsite garage staffed by four fully qualified mechanics.