Investment boost for Maidens

A haulage and distribution business led by the founder’s great-grandson is celebrating its 90th anniversary as its parent company plans a £1m investment boost.

Maidens of Telford, which was established by Arthur John Maiden in 1931, is primed for expansion, with three acres of land behind its headquarters earmarked for development to facilitate future growth.

The £10m-turnover company, which has 90 staff and a fleet of 60 vehicles, has been part of Kinaxia Logistics since 2017. It was Kinaxia’s seventh acquisition and it has significantly strengthened the group’s presence in the Midlands and Wales.

Maidens provides general haulage services including contract distribution, pallet distribution through Palletforce, and warehousing. It is based at Donnington Wood and the business moved there in 2010 following a £2m investment in a 3.5-acre site where it has its offices, warehousing, garage and vehicle parking areas.

Today it is headed by Arthur John Maiden - better known as AJ - who joined the business in 2000 as a 16-year-old mechanic. He has worked his way to the top, following in the footsteps of three previous generations.

His great-grandfather, a tenant farmer, set up the business when he bought his first truck to work for British Sugar, which in 1927 had built a sugar beet plant in Allscott. The founder’s son Arthur Joseph took over the business in 1969 and when he retired in 1987 his son, also called Arthur John but known as John, took the helm.

By then Maidens had nine trucks and 12 trailers and was heavily reliant on seasonal agricultural products. John steered it into transporting food, drink and other everyday items to grow the business, with contracts for clients such as Premier Foods, Dairy Crest, Tate & Lyle, Pura Foods and Texas Homecare.

AJ took over in 2019 when his father stood down and said joining Kinaxia offered the best of both worlds for the business, as it could retain its family ethos while enjoying backing from a large corporate.

“We’re extremely proud that Maidens has been in business for 90 years, and we’re thankful to our loyal customers and staff throughout the years who have helped us achieve this. We’re also very proud that the Maidens name remains on the side of our vehicles and that we have retained our family values, but we are very much a Kinaxia business now."

The land behind Maidens HQ is earmarked for development to create more vehicle parking space, a canopy and cross-docking area to facilitate further growth of the business, new driver restroom and canteen facilities and new offices.