Our journey into becoming an agricultural store began back in 1924 with Walter Bailey mixing and selling animal feed. Although he didn’t have a shop, he had a tin bath in his cottage to mix the feed which he later delivered using a wheelbarrow and that was where the story began…
Walter Bailey delivered the feed himself in a wheelbarrow to customers who kept a small number of animals such as chickens or pigs. As Walter became more successful and the business grew, he was able to upgrade from the wheelbarrow to a pony and trap. Further down the line, Walter managed to get his own small lorry to deliver to Walter Bailey customers. A shed on St Andrew’s Road was used as a storage holding, and that same shed is still used by the family today.
In 1933, Walter’s store was built and we’ve still got the date clearly on show above the door. Walter then began a family with his wife Winifred, and as the years went on his three sons became involved with the business.
By 1940, the Walter Bailey company had seen sales increase and so a new store with grain processing machinery was put in place. Walter then began to purchase grain from local farms to mix, grind and crush. What’s more, Walter was then able to become an agent for national suppliers and soon the Walter Bailey Par establishment was selling compound feed, potatoes, cement, coal, and much more!
As the business stepped into the 70s, 80s and 90s, Walter Bailey’s three sons Jeremy, Andrew and Peter took charge of the company and were able to keep the business at the forefront of agricultural supplies, even as the farming industry undertook some drastic changes.
The Walter Bailey business has strong family roots and now, Andrew’s son David runs the company and is able to keep Walter Bailey not only as a favourite supplier to the businesses it has long-standing relationships with, but also as a forerunner for winning new customers too.
Good to see a traditional family business thriving. Keep it up guys.
We only discovered your premises yesterday (Mon) and were delighted to see how competitive your prices are. We ordered a bulk bag of stones and also purchased some further items in your shop. We were very impressed with your staff in the trade dept desk and your people in the shop. Everyone was so friendly and helpful, including your delivery driver this morning (Tues). He to had a smile on his face and was only to keen to help. Please pass these comments on to all concerned. Customers are very quick to complain when things go wrong, but your people really do provide outstanding customer service. Well done. We will certainly use your company again.
