Hendy Van & Truck Centre

Without travelling far, Hendy has come a long way from the small bicycle repair shop opened in Whitchurch in 1852. Today, the Group has in excess of twenty premises stretching across southern England from Devon to West Sussex, housing over 700 staff and handling between them over J200m worth of business.

Hendy holds Ford, Mazda, Kia and Honda franchises, plus Ford and Iveco van and truck franchises. The company handles all aspects including sales, servicing, parts, hire, accident repairs and Rapid Fit centres. Specialist operations include Liquid Petroleum Gas conversions, engine dynamometer testing, fuel injection testing and repairs, as well as engine sales to the construction and marine industries.

But whilst having grown to a company of significant geographical and economic size, the Hendy Group remains a closely-knit family concern. Currently, both the Chairman and Deputy Chairman are great-grandsons of the company founder F.A. Hendy, with the next generation of sons and daughters within the company structure ensuring the continuity of the family business.

Throughout the company's history, the Hendy family can be said to have followed good business practice - grasping opportunities as they've appeared, reviewing operations in order to remain efficient and keeping up with manufacturers' changing demands. Above all, the Hendy family has always been careful to continue to meet the needs of customers, ensuring that they enjoy the best service and attention at all times.

Henry Ford's famous quote comes to mind - "Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success." The Hendy family has certainly shown this to be true. Here's to the next 150 or so years.