Leeds, England, United Kingdom

In 1918 Joe Long returned home to Holbeck in Leeds from the First World War. He’d been wounded, taken prisoner and had to have life-saving surgery which left him with one lung – but that didn’t stop him starting a business that would endure for generations. Joe named his business J Longs and Sons, and delivered coal around Leeds – and in 1933 became only the second company to get a licence from Leeds Weights and Measures. Joe and his sons Arthur, Norman and Reg moved from Holbeck to Cross Gates just before the Second World War. Arthur was called up to fight – and provided his haulage experience to the RAF, based in India. After transportation was denationalised after the war, J Longs and Sons reaped the benefits as the country recovered from the war. Joe and his sons won a contract from the government which gave them three lorries and that changed the company forever – although two broke down on the way back to Cross Gates that very day. Longs of Leeds was born. The company’s first major haulage contract was for a wholesale fruit and veg merchant at Leeds market. The business quickly grew, moving to the Dark Arches on Neville Street, and the company continued to grow during the 1960s. It again had to move, this time to the Sandleas Way in the early 1970s, where Longs of Leeds is still located today.