SAH Ltd becomes The Anderson Group after 80 years as turnover hits record high

One of Scotland’s most long-established family-owned businesses is changing its name after 80 years.

SAH (Sam Anderson Holdings) Limited is being re-branded as The Anderson Group Ltd to “highlight the increased diversity of the business” and its transition over the last decade from being a Scottish haulage specialist to becoming a broader based UK-wide firm with “considerable other business interests and activities”.

The Anderson Group Ltd has grown substantially over the last decade and its latest accounts reported a remarkable increase in turnover of 37.4 per ent from £158.4m to £217.7m in 2014 making it one of the top 500 privately owned companies in Scotland.

The firm, which was originally established in the 1930’s as a haulage company, has grown dramatically from its Newhouse base and employs 518 staff in outlets across the UK.

Whilst the business is still involved in haulage its core business now is Northside Truck and Van Limited which it purchased in 2005.

This is the UK’s largest Mercedes Benz commercial vehicle supplier in the UK and sold 5,726 vehicles in 2014, almost 1,500 more than the previous year, across its seven showrooms in the north of England.

The third element of The Anderson Group is a property rental business.

Chairman of the Group is Fergus Leitch, who has a long distinguished career in the commercial vehicle industry with over 40 years experience with Scania and Mercerdes Benz.

Chief Executive Officer Irvine Anderson is the third generation to run this family owned company and he believes the business is stronger than ever. As Irvine explained: “We have expanded considerably over the last decade through acquisition and organic growth. However, I believe the business has further to go in the future. We began with four showrooms at Northside and now have seven and that business continues to outperform most of its peers.”

“I believe that there is room for more acquisitions in the coming years and we are hungry for commercial growth. The key has been adaptability and an understanding that to continue a long established family business you need to be flexible and be open to new challenges coupled with sound financial management.”

Irvine concluded: “I am very proud that I am the third generation of my family to run this company. The new name represents a new era and signifies a new period of growth for the company while keeping the Anderson name at the forefront of the business. I am also very proud that we are running a significant sized business with outlets across the UK while retaining our Scottish roots which is very important to me.”