Horses named after helping hands

Chairman Gary Jeal said: “We decided to name a Chequers Horse after my wife’s granddad, Sidney. Sidney was hugely supportive of us when Chequers first started. He retired the same week as we started the business and would come in from time to time to help us out during busy periods. He was a big part of Chequers’ early success, and remained an important part of the family until he unfortunately passed away a month after celebrating his 96th birthday in January.”

The Chequers horse has been a familiar sight around London and the South East, with almost 150 vans servicing large housing associations, schools, colleges, commercial office spaces and local authorities for the last three decades. 

Director Paul Jeal added: “We named the second Chequers Horse Albert after our granddad who actually ‘lent’ us our first pair of ladders we needed to get us started. Albert was incredibly supportive of Gary and I when starting up our own business, as was the whole family. We actually ran the business from our shared bedroom at our parent’s house even using our house phone as our business line. Now Chequers has developed into a large organisation, we are only more thankful for the help given to us by Albert and Sidney in those early days and beyond.”