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LIVERIDGE HISTORY
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Frederick Howard (Senior) was
born in Birmingham in 1913.
He served his apprenticeship
as a universal grinder, becoming a first rate engineer and mechanic.
During World War 2 all car
production was suspended, so he was sent to work in the Shadow factories in the
Kinver tunnels. Mainly working on the Merlin engine production. These engines
were used predominately for the Spitfire and Lancaster aircraft’s.
Fred senior worked all
through the constant bombing and the efforts and sacrifices made by these men is
often forgotten.
They often had long periods
away from home, (I remember my grandfather telling me about how he and his
colleagues on a tea break on the night shift stood in silence looking at the
glow of Birmingham on fire). This sight of course made them think even more
about their families at home.
After the war Fred senior
worked at all the Land Rover Factories, including Clay Lane, Percy Road and Lode
Lane. He then worked for Land Rover until his retirement. He worked most of his
working life for the Rover group, and on upon his retirement became a driving
force into the Liveridge roots.
Frederick Howard (Senior) 1913 - 1986
(Greatly
missed by all)
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Fred Howard started working at the Land Rover factory in 1959 and did
many varied jobs within the factory, eventually working on major
rectification. He purchased his first Land Rover in 1960 and has owned
most models of the Land Rover range. In 1973 Fred left the factory to
establish the Liveridge Company helped by his father Frederick Howard
senior.
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Chris Howard joined the family business in 1982 and Robert Howard
joined shortly after. The first Premises was a service station, but by
the early eighties the restricted space was becoming unsuitable for an
expanding business. A large amount of our work was trade orientated so
we decided to buy land with units already on rather than another
service station.
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Rob Howard like all the family was hooked on Landys from an early age, joining the family business working his holidays and weekends from 12 years of age. Rob has a vast knowledge of Land Rovers rebuilding vehicles from scratch is his passion. Rob has travelled world wide with his work and has driven in some of the toughest terrain in the world.
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Liveridge Today :
Liveridge British 4X4 has led the way specialising in refurbishing
Land Rovers. We are an ever-expanding company, but still use our
original straight forward and friendly approach and will give honest
advice with years of experience in every aspect of the Land Rover
market.
We export worldwide supplying not only refurbished but also
used Land Rover's. This is why we have been chosen to produce the next
Land Rover 90 and 110 Haynes Manual restoration with all mechanical
work and photographs taking place in the Liveridge workshop. We also
offer a comprehensive spares back up to all our customers. Our Land
Rover buyers travel the length of the country in pursuit of the best
quality Land Rovers and we may only buy 5 out of 30 vehicles viewed.
This enables us to maintain the highest standard that our customers
expect, whether they require donor vehicles with a view to
refurbishment or a quality used vehicle. A good majority of our work
goes to the trade and we have been supplying vehicles for the African
charities for many years. We offer so many variations and
modifications it would be impossible to list every specification, but
over the years we have undertaken probably every modification you can
think of and a few more to all models of Land Rovers.
We refurbish Land Rovers for numerous charities all over the world and
built special purpose vehicles, Ambulance's, Fire Tenders, Mobile work
shops, Wheel chair lifts, Camper vans and even competition off road
vehicles, that have gone to start work in, America, New Zealand, Africa,
India, Canada and numerous other countries all over Europe and Asia.
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The Next Generation:
Antony Howard has been a common site at Liveridge since he was 13 years old and has been a Land Rover nut all his life, as you would expect being Chris's son. Antony has knowledge and experience far exceeding his age.
Jamie Howard, Rob's son will be starting his apprenticeship shortly and loves his Saturday job usually covered in grease and likes nothing more than ripping Land Rovers apart.
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