Gordon Bell & Son still going strong after 70 years
10/07/2023
Gordon Bell & Son Ltd continues to go from strength to strength after over 70 years in business. Strategically located in the heart of mid-Ulster, the family-run business provides a range of services to keep your vehicle running safely and efficiently on the road.
Specialising in trailer repairs, roller brake testing and haulage contracting, the company was founded in Cookstown by Gordon Bell and is now run by his son Arnold with the help of a mechanic, driver, part-time mechanic and a very sprightly Gordon, who is still involved at the age of 93. Gordon Bell & Son has a large and loyal client-base which includes Creagh Concrete, Evergreen Horticultural Products, Reliable Transport Services, Stanley Bell & Sons, Growmoor Bettergrowing and Malcolm Keys, who is a well-known pig farmer based in Clogher, Co. Tyrone.
Suppliers include JM Autoparts, SDC, Dennison Trailer Parts, Cunningham Covers, Commercial Vehicle Services, Raymond Doody Truck Parts and Sean Kelly Commercials.
“Our customers have been extremely loyal to us down through the years. We provide a professional and reliable service which is why they keep coming back,” Arnold says.
“Our commercial vehicle workshop caters for customers from far and wide. We’re small enough to focus on the individual. We give them a schedule and they’re in and out as quickly as possible.
“I have their maintenance schedule so I’m able to schedule their 10 or 12-week vehicle inspections and their annual tests. All they get from me is two phone calls. The first is to let them know their test is due and the second is to tell them they’ve passed. Their only input is to bring the vehicle in and collect it afterwards.
“We pride ourselves on our speedy turnover on maintenance and repairs.”
Gordon Bell & Son has invested heavily in its workshop over the years. It recently purchased a new set of fully automated roller brake testers which are worked from a tablet in the cab. It also carries out aluminium welding and repairs to livestock trailers, and is a supplier for Quicksilver Bodyliner which is designed for both rigids and trailers, covering your tipper body floor and lower sides in one easy fit piece.
Quicksilver Bodyliner offers the highest ever resistance to internal abrasion, whatever the load you’re carrying. It not only helps prevent loads from sticking, but also allows discharge at lower tipping angles – a benefit that significantly enhances vehicle stability. This leads to higher residual values when it comes to selling the trucks on.
The origins of the company go back to 1958 when Gordon – who began his working life in the family farm contracting business – decided to go out on his own and purchased his first truck, a V8 Ford petrol engine, initially supplying sand, gravel and agricultural lime to local farmers. A few years later, he started making concrete blocks. Then in 1967, Gordon and his family moved to Melbourne, Australia before returning to Magherafelt three years later.
“My father gained a wealth of experience in coach building, quarry plant building and maintenance of ready use concrete trucks in Australia, which has helped to make the business what it is today," explains Arnold, who has been involved in the operation for over 40 years.
On returning to Ireland, Gordon resumed supplying agricultural lime and designed a conveyor belt to speed up the process of loading the lime onto spreaders. He also got into the business of buying and selling trucks, something which was discontinued only recently.
“With the advent of the internet, we don’t do much sales anymore. The internet has cut out the middle man. Anyone can source a truck or trailer online in the UK now. We’ve also cut back on trailer hire which we did for a while too,” Arnold notes.
In the mid-1980s, Gordon secured a contract with local company Carmean Limeworks to transport their limestone products all over Ireland. Around the same time, Arnold started carrying out truck and trailer maintenance for both Gordon Bell & Son and other hauliers in the area.
An increase in Northern Ireland’s gross vehicle weight rating saw the family branch into fitting axles onto lorries and trailers, and carrying out chassis extensions. When they began hauling logs from forests in Co. Donegal in the late 1980s, it led to the Bell’s offering a new crane maintenance and fitting service. Among the companies they fitted cranes for were BA Engineering in Cookstown, Co. Tyrone, Quinn Building Suppliers in Ardboe, Co. Tyrone and MV Commercials in Edinburgh.
During the same period, truck and trailer sales became a major part of the business, while the haulage side continued to expand also thanks to regular work for the likes of Acheson & Glover, Lissan Coal Company and Balcas. In the early 2000s, the family sold their six-strong haulage fleet in order to concentrate on growing the maintenance and repair side of the business. Gordon Bell & Son still runs a single MAN TGX articulated truck and Kelberg tipper trailer which are dedicated to working for Creagh Concrete in Toomebridge, Co. Antrim. Creagh Concrete is recognised as one of the largest and most innovative producers of concrete products for a diverse range of market sectors throughout Ireland and the UK.
“Creagh Concrete have been a great customer of ours for the past 30 years. They are a good company to work for.”
In more recent times, Gordon Bell & Son has been specialising in aluminium welding and tipper body repairs. It was also one of the first companies in the area to install roller brake testing equipment for the annual road worthiness test at its busy three-bay workshop in Moneymore, Magherafelt. The garage’s location on the A29 means it is no more than an hour away from any part of Ulster.
Restoring vintage trucks has been a passion of the Bell’s for many years. They are proud owners of a fully-restored 1971 ERF (Edwin Richard Foden) articulated truck and are currently restoring a pair of 1979 ERFs.
Gordon Bell & Son would like to take this opportunity to thank its customers and suppliers for their continued support as well as its small, but dedicated team for their hard work, dedication and expertise.
Here’s to the next 70 years!
Gordon Bell & Son Ltd
80 Cookstown Road,
Moneymore,
Magherafelt,
Co. Londonderry,
BT45 7YL.
Telephone: 028 86762523
Mobile: 07739 945735
First published in Irish Trucker magazine Vol 26 No 3, May/June 2023
