Past - Present - Future

150 Years Old - But Still Not Running Out of Steam!

A definition of History is ‘a chronological record of events, as of the life or development of a people or institution, often including an explanation of or commentary on those events.’

Our history is something we are very proud of; the more we delve, especially in this age of freely available information on the internet, the more interesting things we discover about the grand history of James Graven & Sons.

It all began in 1860, 150 years ago, when James Graven himself started out specializing in agricultural engineering, exporting goods all over the world, predominately to India. Over the next few years, James Graven & Sons began developing steam engines, mainly for agricultural purposes, before moving into the motor vehicles industry in 1912. At this time, James Graven attended a reception with the founder of Ford Motors, Henry Ford, at the Savoy in London.

Interestingly and this is what we enjoy about the synchronicity of this company, about a year before this took place there was ‘a conveyance of a piece of land, in Dead Hill Field, abutting on the Witchford Road, Ely,’ not too far from where our current Ely branch was built in 2002.  There have been many incidents of this ‘James Graven synchronicity’ over the years, but there will be more about that in further articles.

We are told that history helps us build the future, providing us with lessons of the past.  James Graven & Sons has always changed with the times, built upon new ideas, and gone where the ebb and flow of business has taken it; looking to our future at this time - that is not going to change.

This year in particular seems to be filled with the spirit of growth and change that are the foundations of this company, with many new and changeable activities taking place.  This writer, personally, having worked here in various roles for the last 7 years can very strongly feel the ‘renewed buzz’ from within the business, both in the people and the place.

We have two major refits planned, two stores opening 24 hours from early spring, a complete new build at Littleport and that is just the start - there will be other major changes coming later in the year, so we may be 150 years old but we are definitely not running out of steam any time soon!

In a year that has already seen much change in the world, we at James Graven look forward to the year with a sense of renewed hope, that there is much to do - so, it’s full steam ahead!