| There is no substitute for experience and Aldridge has it in abundance spanning back over sixty years! |
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| Ted Aldridge founded the company in 1945 when he purchased a retail shop at 5 Friend Street, London EC1 trading as a retail locksmith and whilst there may have been a few small key cutters there were very few locksmiths. This meant constant demand and Ted’s wife Lil was kept busy visiting the local ironmongers and builders merchants by public transport or on her bicycle for over four years before the company managed to afford a delivery service. The business continued to rapidly expand in the early years though Ted’s exceptional Locksmithing skills and diligence. His Son Eddie worked alongside Dad at every opportunity gaining a wealth of experience as a young boy eventually joining the family business full time on leaving school, when he was already a competent locksmith. Eddie wanted to do more than just cut keys, he quickly realised there was an opportunity for a company to specialise in supplying locks and security products to the ever growing number of locksmiths entering the market. |
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| In 1963 Eddie placed the first wholesale order with Chubb which launched the start of the wholesale business and due to its overwhelming success the wholesale business was established and registered on 27th January 1965. In 1971 Aldridge was the first security wholesaler to establish a division specialising in Access Control products and this coupled with the continued growth of the wholesale company saw the business move to much larger premises at Eagle Wharf Road Islington N1 where the company’s head office is still based. |
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| In 1980 the company acquired a small security wholesaler S.Wooding in Manchester providing the business with the opportunity to develop and build a Northern base which quickly became established with business continuing to grow above expectations and giving the business nationwide coverage. |
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| In May 1988 Alan Hawkins was appointed National Sales Manager with the role of re-establishing and further developing the sales and marketing side of the company, which was non existent together with major service issues relating to rude unhelpful unreliable service in the south which lead to a marked decline in sales. |
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| In January 1989 Eddie Aldridge concerned for his company’s well being appointed Alan Hawkins as group managing director with the task of turning the flagging business around and returning it back into profitability. Through a united team effort and the desire to offer the largest and widest product choice and by being totally customer focused the business has continued to grow and develop successfully. |
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| On 16th January 2006 Alan became the major shareholder in the Aldridge Group with Eddie retaining a minor share holding in the business and we are all delighted that Eddie still takes an active role in the business and continues to pass on his wealth of product expertise to the team. |
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| The success of any company is based on the relationship with its customers and to our knowledge no success story has ever been written without them so we will continue to work even harder to be our customer’s first choice wholesaler for many more years to come. |
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