HSH sponsors Pony Cart flower display in Great Coates

The history…

Mr William Portus who lived at 38 The Avenue (now number 10), was a Shepherd working for F.G. Riggall of Aylesby Road. During his spare time, Mr Portus was passionate about growing flowers in his garden, and had a particular interest in Dahlias.

He and Mr Arthur Skinns, the Village Postman used to sit at the five barred gate, waiting for the girls at the local biscuit factory to finish their shift so they could hand them bunches of flowers that Mr Portus had grown in his garden as they passed by.

The biscuit factory opened as Watmough & Sons Ltd in the 1930s and became part of Scribbans & Kemp, later known as Kemp Biscuits in 1948. The factory, which eventually became part of United Biscuits produced several well-known brands of crisps such as Hula Hoops and Solos. United Biscuits closed the factory in 1995, which at the time was a large employer in Grimsby employing several hundred people.

Today the original factory and site now owned by HSH Coldstores, is once again employing people from the local community. HSH have developed and modernised the site into a cold storage facility officially known as HSH Coldstores Lewis Howard Avenue.

HSH Coldstores have over 50 years’ experience providing high quality temperature-controlled storage and distribution solutions to customers in the cold chain sector. Additionally, HSH operate a fleet of over 40 temperature-controlled LGV vehicles which make deliveries across the UK and Ireland.

Being extremely proud of their heritage, HSH Coldstores’ roots can be traced back to 1970, when John Howard founded John T Howard (Grimsby) Ltd. John’s core belief was that the customers’ needs came first, a belief which still stands firm today – “Where service is our priority.”

Additional information

HSH Coldstores (a HSH Holdings company) are proud to support the local community, for more information about Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility at HSH, please visit our Sustainability page.

The Great Coates in Bloom Committee is a delegated committee of Great Coates Village Council with a remit to improve the appearance of Great Coates. Further information about the committee is available on the Great Coates Village Council website (External link).