A brief history of Andersen Harvey Lake and Co

The origins of a business moving goods, operated by members of the family actually goes back to the 1880's when unknown to each other, Tom Brown founded Browns Coal merchants in Cranleigh Surrey, whose secondary yard today houses a well known TIR operator.

Browns ran barges on the Wey-Arun canal which connected the London Docks (especially coal and coke wharves), and distributed these products at the Cranleigh Wharf or if rail borne at their other yard in the Rail Station at Cranleigh. Neither of these sites exist, although plans for the canal restoration have been an issue for many years connecting the Sussex coast with London and the rest of the waterway network as it does. Other cargoes were Fullers earth back up to London and osiers for basket making in the London Markets. Tom's wife Emily was to run the business as he became too ill, and she is the grandmother of Pam (nee Harvey) Kagan a Director from 1978 of AHL. Pam's mother ran the coal company with her sister until it was taken over and subsumed into a larger coal distribution business.

Peter Jacob Trelde Andersen, was raised in Copenhagen, sent to Uddevalla University, spoke 17 languages, and was sent to the UK to bring over the first telegraph cable from Esbjerg to Newcastle. He was the grandfather of Roger Kagan, and retired from the Great Northern Telegraph Company of Denmark, from his offices in Great St Helens, in the City of London's shipping quarter. Roger's son Gavin has a section of that cable!

PJTA married Louisa Lake, a well known concert singer, whose forbear was in the Trafalgar fleet, as a master gunner (William Lake), maintaining the maritime tradition. Their grandson Roger formed AHL with his wife Pam, and his mother Metha (nee Andersen) in 1978 after an early career from management trainee to Director of two (then) major companies in Freight Forwarding and Ship chartering and National and International haulage.

Andersen Harvey Lake and Co cheekily took a deregistered but well known flag as their house flag, which remains today as the logo of the Company. Since 1978 the Company has chartered over 100 vessels ranging in size from 500 tonnes up to 7500 tonnes, for the UK Baltic, Mediterranean, and African bulk trades. It has moved large project cargoes all over the world and maintained general forwarding capability for Imports and Exports not just for Midland clients but a clientele of discerning businesses who appreciate the knowledge and personal approach to such matters.

A few years ago, Roger and Pam decided that they had to eventually retire, and Steve Wetton's Airfreight Worldwide Ltd, came to join us in our current location with a view to merging all our interests so that Steve could carry on with the amalgamated staff the same ethos, which is peculiar to both businesses. The final part initiated the operation of the AHL division from 1.11.2011 into Steve's business, and the trading name remains. Roger remains an active consultant to the combined businesses, and clients will see no change in the haulage, storage, handling, loading, forwarding by sea or air, and the business will continue to offer Marine Insurance at the best rates. Customs clearance anywhere in the UK with deferment facility is as always offered, there being very few national or international freight activities which the combined business cannot offer.