Charles I was fighting the English Civil War when Pickfords was established. Oliver Cromwell dominated the English Commonwealth.

Thomas Pickford was first engaged in using packhorses for carrying goods.

1646 saw Pickfords' earliest mention in public records.

Matthew Pickford, son of James Pickford. He and his brother, Thomas, invented the ‘Fly wagon’, pictured.

The Pickfords ‘Fly Wagon’ cut the travelling time from Manchester to London down to four and a half days.

The Napoleonic Wars led to a huge expansion in Pickfords’ business.

In 1780, Matthew Pickford began to route traffic over the new canal system. By 1803, Pickfords owned a fleet of canal boats, wagons and horses and had built its own canal connected facilities.

Seeing the opportunity to grow Pickfords' fortunes, Baxendale embraced the railway network as a method of transportation at a time when it presented a threat to inland carriers.

The Baxendales continued to serve the company until 1932 when L H Baxendale resigned from the Pickfords board.

Joseph Baxendale was the driving force in the new Pickford & Company, set up in 1817. He rebuilt the company through the following decade.

In 1888 a series of murders took place in London’s East End; the perpetrator was never caught.

It was theorised that Jack could have been a Pickfords cart man called Charles Cross who was on his way to Pickfords’ Broad Street depot when he found the body of Polly Nichols. He was never charged.

Pickfords was one of the first carriers to use motor vehicles and started running 20 traction engines in 1903.

Between 1918 and 1921, Pickfords’ national fleet included 1,580 horses, 1,900 horse vehicles and 46 motor vehicles.

Pickfords’ Heavy Haulage division was established in 1907 and operated until the decline of UK manufacturing compelled Pickfords to close the division in the 1990s.

In the 1930s, 40s and and 50s Pickfords became one of the leading national providers of industrial haulage, known for moving the ‘largest, longest and widest’ of loads.

In circa 1920, two years after the war ended, Pickfords was sold to the Hayes Wharf Cartage Company Limited.

A Pickfords van is overrun by enemy action in 1914. Like the London buses, Pickfords vehicles carried the materials of war as well as troops to the front in France.

The Great War changed the way people and businesses went about their daily lives to help the war effort.

During WWII, fuel rationing, air raids, bomb damage, shortages of timber, steel and rubber, government directives and the collapse of many established markets all challenged Pickfords’ ability to operate its business.

Pickfords was very active during WWII and sent lighters between the Solent ports and the Isle of Wight to evacuate the beaches at Dunkirk.

When the war ended, the labour government introduced nationalisation to ensure a co-ordinated approach to production and supply of national services.

After Pickfords became part of the new British Transport Commission, vehicles from other companies began to appear in its fleet, increasing the number of vehicles to over 5,000.

Nine foreman packers from Pickfords South Wales in 1939, with a combined 276 years’ experience!

Big Charlie, the largest elephant in captivity, being loaded onto a Pickfords container.

Big Charlie proved to be notoriously bad tempered and dangerous. His move from Ayr to Yorkshire was handled by Pickfords Glasgow and was the subject of a book which was serialised on BBC Radio 4 in 2008.

In 1957 Billy Butlin offered £1,000 for the safe transport of Charlie, the largest elephant in captivity, from Ayr to Yorkshire.

Pickfords became privatised under Margaret Thatcher.

Pickfords’ MD Geoff Pygall was instrumental in facilitating the purchase from the government. He began working at Pickfords at the age of 14.

Pickfords employees were encouraged to invest in shares of the company.

Through the housing boom of the late 80s and early 90s, Pickfords grew to 120 branches.

The company enjoyed high street presence via its Pickfords Travel business of travel agents.

Pickfords became a recognised brand across Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the Far East, the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

Pickfords became the largest moving company in the world by 1989.

MD Kevin Pickford, who can trace his antecedents back to the original Pickford family, was instrumental in steering the company through the change of ownership.

Yogesh Mehta, a veteran of the removals industry, bought Pickfords’ moving operations in the UK in 2008.

In 2008, Pickfords opened their flagship storage warehouse in Wembley. The facility is Europe's largest, unmanned, fire-safe warehouse, with capacity for over 1,800 20ft containers.

Managing Director Russell Start worked closely with TV Production company Tiger Aspect to create the format of an observational documentary.

The programme ‘The Removal Men’ was screened on Channel 5 across two series, reaching over 1 million viewers per episode.

In 2017, Pickfords opened its doors in Sweden and Canada.

In 2014, Pickfords was appointed logistics provider to The Paddington Trail ahead of the new Paddington film, helping raise £930,000 for the NSPCC.

In 2018 and 2019, Pickfords received a cluster of awards. Pickfords was voted ‘Best international removals company’ by the Forum for Expatriate Management and the Association of Relocation Professionals. Pickfords was awarded ‘Best Vendor Partnership’ by PFM Magazine and Motor Transport Magazine’s ‘Customer Care Award’.

After a 30 year career with Pickfords, Mark Taylor became Managing Director in 2018. So far his workplace change projects have included an award winning apprenticeship scheme, new values for the business and the achievement of Investors in People.

In 2015, Pickfords created Pickfords Pet Shipping, complete with the motto ‘Moving every member of the family.

In 2021 Managing Director Mark Taylor took part in ITV’s UnderCover Boss, going back to the front line to work with his removals teams. The episode reached 2 million views on prime time TV.

From 2018 – 2022 Pickfords won four ‘Best International Removals Company’ awards for consistent service excellence.

In 2021 Pickfords launched a partnership with the Salvation Army to help its customers recycle unwanted clothes and furniture on move day. Funds raised through this service support community programmes to help the homeless and victims of domestic abuse and modern slavery.

In 2022 Pickfords published its Carbon Reduction Plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 in line with the Government’s Net Zero Strategy.

In March 2020 The global pandemic struck and the British Government advised the people to stay at home and the housing market slowed. Pickfords adapted quickly and put a Covid- 19 action plan into place to ensure the safety of its customers and employees.