By Martyn Brisland 
I didn’t know the Harris Lebus factory at Tottenham, by the time I first worked in the area the site had been taken over by the Greater London Council. I was at that time working as a long-distance lorry driver for the Len cabinet works in Maidstone, Kent. I met with a Lebus driver in a transport café who was so enthusiastic about the company that I decided to write to them for a job. This was in late 1973; at the job interview I was told that the firm had once been the largest furniture manufacturer in Europe.
After the closure of the Harris Lebus factory the company had re-emerged making upholstery at their site in Woodley, Reading, and chipboard furniture at their new site at the corner of Blackhorse Road and Forest Road, Walthamstow, E17. That site is now an industrial estate; previous firms who once operated from there included the original AEC bus factory before that moved to Southall in 1928 – they made all the original London Buses (more interesting local history). Part of the site had also been the Ever Ready battery factory. The new factory was called “Ferry Lane Works” with Oliver Lebus as the company Chairman. I was taken on and started work there in December 1973.
Most of the production from the Forest Road factory was sold through Mail order catalogues such as Freemans, Grattan, Littlewoods group, and Great Universal Stores. Retail shops and department stores were also supplied.
The distribution at Forest Road was operated by Merchandise Transport, a wholly owned subsidiary that had existed in the Harris Lebus era. Merchandise Transport had its own workshops in Swanley Bar Lane, Potters Bar. They did all necessary work on the vehicles including engine rebuilds (spare engines were kept ready for installation to reduce down time). They also had their own breakdown truck and would recover breakdowns from many miles away to keep repair costs in house. They also had a service van and mechanics that would travel to repair vehicles at the roadside if practical. I once helped a mechanic fit a new gearbox at the side of the road and on another occasion I finished my delivery run by being towed from drop to drop by their breakdown truck.
Most of the drivers lived in their delivery areas, as far as I remember there were one each in Glasgow, Dundee, Newark, Lincoln, Diss, Nottingham, Swansea, and Newcastle; two each in Birmingham, the west country and Kent; and one in London. During my 7 years only one driver left, the one in Swansea, so I took over the South Wales deliveries, at that time I lived in Maidstone Kent. The drivers worked single handed and somehow we managed to make these deliveries of fully assembled furniture on our own, no health and safety regulations then!
Merchandise transport also distributed imported goods for Lehman from Denmark who delivered containers into Forest Road. This side of the business, which bought in an additional income was handled by Ron Chazalon an ex Tottenham employee. Peter Manton, who had been a tyre fitter at Tottenham, was the drivers’ foreman.
At first the company was successful and in 1978 was able to replace the ageing fleet mostly dating from the Tottenham days (registration year letters were C, D, E, H and J. 1965 to1970). The new fleet was leased and had demountable bodies so that we no longer had to either wait to be loaded or to exchange lorries, we just dropped the empty body and picked up a loaded one.
Around 1978 we started making flat pack furniture for Texas discount (one of the first big DIY groups). I believe that Lebus was one of the first companies to do this. Towards the end of 1979 the company ran into financial trouble and we watched the share value nose diving from week to week. There were several embarrassing occurrences during this period, I was on one occasion sent out to try and purchase hinges for a batch of wardrobes to be completed, I had to try and find a supplier who still thought our credit was good. I also had my fuel bunkering card confiscated by a garage and had to buy fuel on my own credit card to get the lorry back to base, hoping I could get the money back when I returned.
The workshops at Potters Bar were closed as surplus to requirement (the new fleet would not require maintenance). The drive through lorry washing machine, which we used after every trip, disappeared from the yard – exchanged for ready cash. We were eventually called to a meeting in the factory addressed by Oliver Lebus. He told us that Lebus had been taken over by PMA group owned by Malcolm Meredith, who already owned Bridgecraft Upholstery and several other small furniture companies. As the factory site in Walthamstow was not owned by Lebus and the lorry fleet was leased I am not sure if PMA paid for Lebus or inherited its debts. It certainly acquired its designs and good name. Oliver Lebus assured us that the takeover would not lead to any change in our employment and would save the company.
It was not long before the operation at Walthamstow was wound down and production moved to a factory that PMA owned in an old woollen mill in Halifax that had been making ironing boards. Everyone at Walthamstow was made redundant except seven of the drivers who carried on loading out of Halifax. Production standards were poor and we began losing the mail order customers. On long journeys furniture was shaking apart before it could be delivered. The organisation at Halifax was so chaotic that loading of lorries was done in the open.
At Christmas 1980 I remember brushing snow off the furniture that was waiting in the yard to be loaded onto my lorry. In March 1981 the remaining drivers were made redundant thereby severing the last connection between Lebus and London. True to form, I, as the drivers’ shop steward, was sent down to the employment exchange to find out how redundancy pay was calculated and work out what each driver was due. We were then held up for two days sleeping in the back of our lorries trying to encourage the management to pay us our holiday pay and our train fares back home. Pickfords were persuaded to take over the leased fleet of lorries that had come up from London and carried on making the deliveries. That arrangement did not last long as shortly afterwards the PMA group collapsed and Lebus was no more. How are the mighty fallen.
The trade name of Lebus eventually ended up with Christie-Tyler. I don’t remember there being any connection between Lebus and Christie-Tyler at the time the PMA group collapsed. Of the trade marks that they owned at the end I believe only Lebus and Bridgecraft are still in use. There was certainly no Lebus factory in Scunthorpe (the present home of Lebus) at that time so I imagine the receivers eventually sold the name and trademark.
I have searched for Ferry Lane Works, Walthamstow on Google and came up with this link http://edithsstreets.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/waterworks-river-blackhorse-lane.html which lists many companies that operated from the industrial area located between Forest Road and Blackhorse Lane. I remember several of them that were there at the same time as Lebus. Strangely there is no mention of Lebus. I am beginning to wonder if I imagined the whole 7 years that I worked there. No references to Lebus on internet local history sites mention the history of Lebus post 1969, I’m not sure why. Perhaps my memories will help fill that gap. I do apologise if the facts in this article are not 100% accurate but this was all 30 years ago. It is very sad that such a great company should have come to such an ignominious end but the early 1980’s saw the virtual destruction of the furniture industry in North and East London where it had been such a major employer.
Job offer letter – 1973
Lorries parked at Walthamstow – 1970s
Up a welsh mountain pass around 1977
One of the final fleet – purchased in 1978
Ladyship Mills, Halifax
Catalogue 1970’s
Hi,i drove for Lebus Furniture in Reading for five years 1976-1981….and i must say it was the best job i ever had in
my driving career,good job ,good wages,good work mates,i still think about those great days on the road….wow we used to hav some crackiin nights out…….HAPPY DAYS..
……….ROGER SMITH……Now living in Southampton.
there were 6 mechs at tott,12 perhaps at white hart lane garages ,next to the wonderloaf factory and several at swanley bar lane potters bar .i think that was originally owned by a co called ruddles where they bought the a lincense and some trucks (jensons) to start merchandise transport,.all breakdown were done from tott in a bedford artic (petrol) coverted good truck would pull anything .we would go any in england.
Hi there, I drove for Lebus Furniture in Reading from December 1973 to May 1980. Busting company and the lads were great. Ralph Thompson was a great Transport Manager. Sometimes dream about them Ray Milne still living in Birmingham.
Hi my time with Harry Lebus was between 1961 and 1966, it was my first driveing job and I had a petrol Bedford with a huge luton, I was well made up when I got the job as it was something that I always wanted to do as I had been brought up from a young lad in lorry cabs.
I finished up on Mercandise we did furniture up and coming south Tricty Cookers from Spenymoor,Astral Fridges from Dundee,India tyres from Inchinnan, drums from Ellesmere Port, Robbicans from Hull and we also had an old mill which was used as a wharehouse in Great Harwood from there we would get anything as a return load.
The fridges from Dundee we started to deliver them from Newcastle on Tyne and all the way home, we used to stop with the Reading lads in Whalley Range in Manchester and as you say many a good night useing one of the lorries as a taxi.
I had an S Type Bedford and eventualy a big TK, some of the names Terry Cornell on merch,Kit Carson on merch,Percy Mounteer transport manager,Bill Death yard foreman and Sid Smith on merch lived in Aberdeen.
The lorries were TK Bedfords.Albion Victors,Albion Chieftain;s and Bedford Coronet’s, it was a good job and seven days a week no sleeper cabs just lots of good digs such as the George pub in Brough on a Sunday night
From starting for Lebus in 1961 I finished in 2007 have been in transport driveing for forty six years and I would do it all again but not with todays rules we had the best of times and pulled many strokes, even now I do miss it all.
Mick Parsons from Canada.
more names;eddie coccoran,ian cadger,john grey(decd),john daniels i towed him back from liecester one night witha rod thro the engine with the o bedford we had at tott,good firm to work for
my dad mick tanner worked there and my uncle Pete cropper. Out of the reading base. Memories from when I was a lad.
My father worked for Harris Lebus both in Tottenham and reading in the Tottenham days he drove on the wick and Thurso route every week leaving on a Sunday dinnertime and returning on a Friday evening then re load on saterday ready for the trip again on a sunday
Harris Lebus m/c shop staff at the ferry lane works were :-
Len Hack
Jim Digby
“Tiggy” Mason
Jack Parker
Dave Goodfellow
Eric Howe
Danny ? forgive me cannot remember surname
Ian Pringle (apprentice)
Myself
How did I forget Danny Shea ? He was my crib partner sadly no longer with us but I can still hear his laughter I know Len and “Tiggy” have also passed away If anyone knows about any others please leave a message .
my dad arthur brough was a lorry driver at walthamstow ferry lane works then moved up to halifax till 1981 he always spoke of the great times at lebus, he passed away in 2001, i used to travel with many times as a youngster and the memories stiill live on
Sorry I have no photos just a old log sheet my dad forgot to hand in, no tax go in them days, from Nottingham he used to have a few nights out in st Albans before returning to ferry lane, he used to meet up with fellow Lexus drivers Sid Smith and jimmy Dunbar, both from scotland
I also used to park up in St Albans before heading back to Lebus if I had been delivering north of London. I once had to travel to Nottingham by train to collect your fathers lorry after he had become ill at home.I called at your house for the key and found the lorry parked up at a transport cafe near Clifton with a flat battery. Luckily it was on a slight slope and I managed to get it moving by pushing on one of its front wheels, jumping in and bump starting it. After Halifax closed down your dad was one of the drivers who I exchanged Christmas cards with. Unfortunately one year your mother wrote to tell me of his death. She and I have continued exchanging cards ever since.Lebus was undoubtedly one of the most enjoyable jobs I ever had and the drivers and transport staff a great bunch.
Yes my mum always tells me you exchange Christmas card which I think is wonderful, even I had wonderful times travelling with my dad having nights out sleeping in back of the lorry, memories of lebus I’ll never forget
My daughter also used to travel with me sleeping in the back of the lorry from the age of Four. My sister, the childrens author “Jan Mark”, also did a three day trip with me taking notes for the book “Trouble half way” which was about a girl getting to know her new step-father on a similar trip. It was eventually filmed for Thames TV and gives a fair idea of what lorry driving was like back then. By the time it was written PMA had taken Lebus over and moved to Halifax, so the book reflected my opinion of the new management.
Hi all you Lebus/PMA guys
I was part of the PM A company who took over and worked very hard to keep Lebus going. I knew Oliver very well and spent a lot of time with him during our time at Woodley and it was a great shame to see both big name companies wound up but the recession, Mrs Thatchers hard line approach to business etcled to their downfall.
I worked with Malcom Meredith, Clive Engwell, Alan Edwards and various others during my time there and can remember a lot of the staff there but not their names so if you read this i eish you all the best. It was hard work there dealing with the ‘militant’ production bunch but enjoyable mostly.
Hi lived in Holloway as a young boy,we had a gentleman called Ronnie Cox who parked his truck outside his house in our Street, Ashburton Grove,usually a Fordson n/control luton body in drk blue we used to play on the furniture wrappers in the back,He bought home “lebus”trucks but most times “D&H” lorries,my question is what part did this company play in the scheme of things?he may have even bought a “wades”truck home also,this would be 54’/55’+Rgds jj
My Dad Norman Howell worked for Lebus the same time as some you older lads, back around 1953 to 1959. He was a driver doing Cornwall and devon rotations when he got his own rounds and then finished as a fitter in the gareg. Some one might remember him from them days. He married one of the girls in the office called Jeanie Hart but they split towards the end of his time at Lebus.
I think he went on to work at Sprulings Motor Bodies after Lebus or he might have been at Spurlings first.