AN ANDOVER-BASED removals company has marked several important milestones in the last few weeks.

The owners of Britannia Leatherbarrows, on Mcadam Way, West Portway, are celebrating 40 years of being at the business’s helm, as well as recognising 25 years of continuous service from four of their employees - all in the same month.

David and Diane Trenchardfounded the company in November 1981and now run it with their daughter, Sarah Vale. The Trenchard family have been involved in the removals and storage business in Hampshire and Dorset for four generations.

And it’s not just the management team who are in it for the long game, as four members of their staff have also recently been presented with service awards, marking 25 years each.

Richard Fisher started with the company as a school leaver and worked his way up through the roles of porter, driver, and operations manager to his current position as general manager. Now that owner David has stepped back from the day to day running of the firm, Richard is at the helm.

Lewis Mills also began his career with Leatherbarrows when he was at school, working for the company in his holidays, and soon graduated to full time employment. He is now a specialist in office moving and heads up the commercial side of the business.

Operations manager Paul Messer was in his teens when he began work in the removals industry and has since gone from strength to strength. He will shortly be taking his Transport Manager Certificate of Professional Competence qualification.

Finally, Andrew Murrill joined the company directly after finishing his education and has been a porter and packer for many years. He has received extensive training in manual handling, export packing and customer relations, and can usually be found travelling through Europe helping our customers to relocate.

To mark their quarter century of service, all four staff members were given an extra week’s holiday each year plus a unique custom-made model of a Bedford O-type van in company livery.

A celebratory lunch was provided for the whole team as well.

A spokesperson for the company said: “Richard, Lewis, Paul and Andrew are not the first employees to reach this milestone, but are joining a select group – many of whom also joined the company straight from school - who have chosen to make Britannia Leatherbarrows their career employer.

“There aren’t many companies in the removals industry that can boast this level of staff retention, so hats off to the management team!”