Eddie Stobart, founder of the renowned haulage firm, has died at 95.

Eddie Stobart, the founder of the renowned haulage firm Eddie Stobart Ltd., passed away at the age of 95 on November 25, 2024. Stobart initiated his career in agriculture in Cumbria in 1946, operating a modest agricultural business with just eight trucks. Over time, he expanded into haulage, creating a company that would become one of Britain's largest logistics firms . His success was initially unexpected; he often expressed surprise at how his name became synonymous with the fleet's distinctive branding and reputation for high standards .

The former boss of the Cumbria-based company, recognisable for its green and red fleet of lorries, died on 25 November.

Edward Pears Stobart was born in Cumbria in 1929 into a family of farmers.

He first started the operation as a small agricultural business in 1946, specialising in distributing fertiliser and completing contract work for local farmers.

Edward would build Eddie Stobart Ltd into a trucking business that at one point had more than 2,000 lorries and was eventually sold for £280m. He insisted on having his father’s name (not his own) painted on the side of the vehicles as the company built up its reputation for well-maintained, high-quality vehicles, with uniformed drivers, and benefited from the huge growth in road haulage and moving goods by road rather than rail.

Eddie, however, continued with the range of agricultural activities (in a business renamed Eddie Stobart Trading) for which he had purchased his first lorry – distributing and spreading fertiliser and carrying out a range of other operations for local farmers. His vehicles had carried only a modest “E.P. Stobart” on the doors of their cabs. He would later explain that had he known how celebrated Eddie Stobart Ltd, the truck company, would become, he would never have agreed to the use of his name.

The company is now branded as Stobart Group and was taken over by the Culina Group in 2021.

William Stobart, the fourth child of Eddie, is currently the deputy chief executive of Culina.

Stobart's legacy is further marked by the contributions of his son Edward, who significantly expanded the company’s fleet to over 2,700 lorries before his untimely death in 2011 . Despite stepping back from daily operations after selling most of his interests in 1980, Eddie's influence remained evident throughout the firm's evolution and its acquisition by Culina Group in 2021. His commitment to faith and family underscored his approach to business and life .

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Sarah H

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