I can remember SPD having a depot on Glaisdale Drive Bilborough in Nottingham they used to run some Seddon 13.4 rigids a good friend of mine Bill Thomas was a mechanic there
Suttons used to deliver full loads on Wagon & Trailers of soap powder to Salfords, Reading and various other SPD Depots…Tony.
We used to run out of their Bradford depot on Cross Lane next to TNT (who we also work for)
mainly Transit and 7.5s delivering to pubs and restaurants also Pizza Huts nationwide
wondercat:
When I was a kid (I’m 64 now) I think they had red lorries delivering food to hotels etc. I am sure they had a cast alloy SPD emblem on the door, just below the window.
Yes a deep red iirc.When I left school in 58 I worked for Edge Bros Fruit and Veg.Merchants in Matlock. SPD delivered cases of tinned food on a regular basis. They had a roller conveyor to assist with unloading as they got deeper into the van. Always smart staff and clean vehicles as it should be. S or were they the lighter C type Bedford and the occasional Commer if iirc. Can’t find any older pics.but here’s a couple of later ones courtesy of NA3T. Mike 
SPD had a depot at Dronfield,Sheffield,all frozen products I think,lots of Bird’s Eye liveried Bedfords. Ended up being Tempco International.
Greetings,All. IIRC,they started just after the War with ex.U.S.Army Dodges,painted in a maroon colour with a little SPD sign on each side.Hope this hits a spot,regards,900x20. 
I’ve just found this on Facebook not my picture so apologies to ever it belongs to
SPD used Currie & Co in Newcastle for their distribution but sometime after the war they had vehicles of their own operating from a warehouse on Gateshead Quayside next to the Swing Bridge, Austin Loadstars & at least one Commer Superpoise. Then in the mid-fifties they moved to a purpose built depot at Simonside, South Shields,
pushrod47:
SPD used Currie & Co in Newcastle for their distribution but sometime after the war they had vehicles of their own operating from a warehouse on Gateshead Quayside next to the Swing Bridge, Austin Loadstars & at least one Commer Superpoise. Then in the mid-fifties they moved to a purpose built depot at Simonside, South Shields,
SPD ended up being taken over by the NFC consortium mid 80,s .
Around 1987 the work was absorbed into another name called Alpine refrigerated distribution.[all owned by NFC,again tempco was also].
Chris Webb:
SPD had a depot at Dronfield,Sheffield,all frozen products I think,lots of Bird’s Eye liveried Bedfords. Ended up being Tempco International.
Thanks Chris. Dronfield Cold Store was a regular of Fridged Freight. I had forgotten that one. Hitched back from Sheffield railway station to collect a lorry there. Walked best part of the way- ■■■■■■ hills! When I got there it was a MM 6 wheeler with a dolly and a 4 in line artic trailer on her - must have been 65 feet long and supposed to go on the B&I ferry Liverpool to Belfast. Rang the office and told to take the ridgid - my old man sent an artic unit up to get the trailer away. Bad planning by a “assistant”. The good old days? SPD was huge - all over the place and a big customer of ours - definitely as frequent as Birds Eye, usually vegetables and usually cold stores with Springfield Road - just over the Lower Falls Road in Belfast being a regular drop, then cross the border for beef. Jim.
SPD were created by Lever Brothers/ Unilever after WW1 and were operated as their “in house” distribution arm which after WW2 were developed into a free standing UK distribution network with their own carriers licence so they were able to offer third party services to other manufacturers although they ( SPD) never allowed this part of their business to exceed 15% of their T/o. Then when Frozen food took off in the 50’s they were ideally placed to expand into this sector with the provision of cold stores and as they were still owned by Unilever they were able to take on the distribution of the market leader Birds Eye which was also owned by Unilever. I believe that when Unilever were going through a period of rationalisation they decided they no longer wanted to operate a distribution subsidiary so they sold SPD to NFC who’s CEO at the time, Dan Petit, had been a long time employee of SPD in the late 40’s/50’s & 60’s so I suppose he had the “inside track” at the time ! Cheers Bewick.
pushrod47:
SPD used Currie & Co in Newcastle for their distribution but sometime after the war they had vehicles of their own operating from a warehouse on Gateshead Quayside next to the Swing Bridge, Austin Loadstars & at least one Commer Superpoise. Then in the mid-fifties they moved to a purpose built depot at Simonside, South Shields,
Simonside burnt down in 70s/80s I can’t recall exactly when, it was one of the biggest fires ever recorded on Tyneside.
Thanks for that KEVMAC47, my Dad left because of the move to S/Shields, too much of a travel from Stanley, nobody had cars those days. Cheers Pushrod47
in the 60’s i worked for SPD in the divisional office in York - North East area with Depots from South Shields Simonside, Bradford -Tong, Sheffield-Dronfiled, Nottingham, Hinckley and Peterborough. Delivering Unilever products and very much split between dry goods and BirdsEye. Head Office, Clarendon Road Watford. Great company to work for and where i started my work after College. Still remember the staff after all these years if anyone is interested!
When I was subbing for Pritchett Bros, Ashton in Makerfield, we used to do a lot of Stork margarine from Van Den Bergh’s at Bromborough. I’m sure it must have been for SPD depots all over the country, but I always finished up with Glasgow or Dundee. The warehouse lad at Dundee was a cheery soul, until one day when I arrived on a hot day and he looked decidedly glum. He explained that he had just take a huge swig of what he’d thought was a lemon drink, only to realise after he’d swallowed it that it was lemon scented cleaning fluid. He kept going off to be sick, but kept on working. Hardy breed these Scots!
Saw some Harry Lawson trucks on the M6 recently. Pritchetts used to sub some of the Dundee to them as return loads. Arthur Wilson was the transport manager then. One day someone came back from Van Den Berghs and said ‘three of Harry Lawson’s backed on the bays.’ They’d obviously gone in direct. Arthur said a few weeks later that they must have been stuck. They’d phoned him to ask if he had anything going North. ‘What did you say?’ ‘I just laughed and put the phone down!’
John.