in the previous green, gold and dark red livery in February 2009 in December 2013 in August 2007 FH13 in July 2013 The business was started by
Eddie Stobart in the late 1940s as an agricultural business in
Cumbria. His son,
Edward Stobart Junior, started working for his father's contracting business delivering agricultural material in the region. The first truck bought by Eddie Stobart in 1960 was painted post-office red and Brunswick green with yellow lettering. These colours were used for subsequent vehicles up to 1969. The company was incorporated as
Eddie Stobart Ltd. on 23 November 1970 as a haulage firm, and Eddie Stobart controlled the organisation fully until 1973, when, at the age of 19, Edward Stobart took the place of
CEO. In 1976, Eddie retired and Edward took full control of the road haulage business and the name
Eddie Stobart Ltd in 1976, becoming Chairman. By 1985 Edward Stobart owned 26 vehicles. The business was characterised by its
Tautliner bodies. In order to maintain brand image, in the 1980s, the company had a policy that all drivers must wave back and honk their horn in the traditional truck-driver fashion when signalled by a passer-by or "Eddie spotter" to do so. On 1 April 1987, the company opened a depot in the
English Midlands at
Burnaston. By 2002 the company was experiencing financial difficulties caused by the fuel crisis. In 2001 the haulage business had posted its first loss, with the fan club making more money than the haulage business. After a series of takeovers, the Stobart company developed from a haulage company to a logistics company known as the
Stobart Group, obtaining a stock market listing without an
initial public offering through a
reverse takeover of the property and ports company the Westbury Property Fund in 2007. In May 2007 Eddie Stobart was the subject of controversy when it reportedly offered bonuses to its Carlisle-based drivers to work in
Livingston in Scotland, to transport goods for
Tesco who were in dispute with their distribution centre drivers and facing disruption to their supply chain. The Stobart drivers refused to cross the Livingston picket line. On 10 March 2008,
James Irlam Logistics, one of the largest independently owned road transport logistics providers in the UK was purchased for £60 million. On 1 April 2008, the company started its first dedicated operations in Ireland, Stobart Ireland, based in
Dublin, following the acquisition of
TDG's Irish trailer operations. On 14 September 2009, MP
David Taylor opened the firm's
Nestlé distribution centre in
Bardon, Leicestershire, after a £7 million refurbishment. The new site previously owned by Innovate Logistics. In July 2008 it was announced that the group had taken over the chilled and ambient goods distribution operations from the administrators of Innovate Logistics, saving the jobs of around 1,300 employees. The company completed the acquisition of Autologic, car-transporter firm, in August 2012. In March 2014
Stobart Group announced its intention to re-position itself as a support services business, with the announcement of the sale of its original transport and distribution business to DBay Advisors for £281 million: Dbay Advisors secured an indirect 49% stake in the logistics business. However, Stobart Group retained the rights to the brand Eddie Stobart, licensing it out to Eddie Stobart Logistics. On 21 May 2020, the company announced that it was acquiring the intellectual property rights to the "Eddie Stobart" and "Stobart" brand names for £10 million from Stobart Group to increase its brand awareness. The deal also included the merchandise business and the Stobart Members Club. In February 2021 Eddie Stobart Logistics changed its name to
Logistics Development Group. On 1 July 2021,
Culina Group purchased the business. In September 2021, Eddie Stobart was rebranded as Stobart. ==Ownership==