Company History

Harry diversified into bodybuilding and, by the mid 1950's, his business was dedicated entirely to this field. Rapid expansion followed, driven by a consistently high standard of workmanship that attracted owners and insurers of prestige marques such as Rolls Royce, Bentley Rover, Jaguar and Aston Martin.

Pilling became known by major paint and equipment manufacturers as a market leader and innovator. ICI, 3M and BOC were just some of the companies that turned to Pilling for help with field trials and new product evaluations.

In the mid 1960s, Graham Pilling joined the family business, followed shortly by his younger brother Kevin. The first Volvo franchise was added in 1968, operated from a modern village garage in Bovingdon. A move to Hemel Hempstead followed a few years later.

Pilling expanded its Volvo franchise into Milton Keynes in 1987 and Luton ten years later. But it is the first part of the 21st century that has seen the most significant expansion, with Volvo and Land Rover in Welwyn Garden City, Skoda in Milton Keynes and Mazda in Milton Keynes and Luton all joining the fold.

A Citroen franchise was added in 2005, co-locating with the Volvo showroom in Hemel Hempstead and taking the Group's total workforce to 240.