“The only thing that makes a good trailer is it suits the customer down to the ground”, says Tom Bailey, founder of Bailey Trailers.
It was back in the early 1980’s that Bailey began making trailers. With experience of the design and construction of agricultural trailers, Tom saw the potential for utilising his expertise to build a better trailer for local farmers in Lincolnshire.
As Tom explains… “We were in the farming game, I’m a farm labourer by trade, born on the farm and been in farming all my life. I’m a welder, I knew how to build trailers, I had built them at a company I had worked for.”
The result was the TB the first of which was presented to the world on 24th February 1982. A ten-tonne trailer, the TB left Tom’s workshop in Aunsby for the short journey of just over seven miles to Harrowby near Grantham. Taking delivery was Bailey’s first customer Jenkinson’s, an arable business farming on the Harrowby Hall estate.
This innovative, quality-built trailer soon caught the attention of the local farming community, many of whom remain Bailey customers today. However, the reason why so many farmers want a Bailey trailer is because we listen to them.
With orders coming in for TB trailers, Tom turned his attention to designing the Bale Trailer that farmers had been asking him for; in 1983 the first Bailey Trailers Bale Trailer rolled off the production line. Also, in 1983 Sharmans Agriculture in Melton Mowbray became the first Bailey dealer. Our partnership is still going strong today.
Bale Trailers were followed by Contract Dumper and High Lift models. Expansion of the range to meet the growing demand for Bailey trailers provided its own set of problems, the existing production facility at Aunsby wasn’t big enough. We purchased the site, moved production into a larger shed, which allowed us to increase output of existing models and introduce new Flat Deck Low Loader, Fuel Bowser, Beeteaper and Contract Tipper models.
By 2009 the site at Aunsby couldn’t keep up with the further increase in demand for trailers. Added to this was the problem that Aunsby is a small village, the size and regularity of loads leaving our factory had increased dramatically, access in and out of Aunsby was difficult for HGV’s due to the narrow roads. The only available solution was for Bailey Trailers to move.
In 2010 we moved to our current, purpose-built 70,000 sq ft site in Sleaford, Lincolnshire. However, to meet yet further increase in demand for our products both in the UK and overseas, we built a new fitting and finishing facility in 2015 followed by robotic welding technology in 2020 and a new machine shop and conference suite was built in 2021.
We are always looking to improve the way we do things, which makes our products better for the customer. In March 2022 new plasma cutting technology will be introduced which will enable us to cut steel more quickly and accurately.
Managing Director Michael Bailey sums up what he feels sets Bailey apart from other trailers; “The reason people buy a Bailey trailer is because it’s the best out there. The way we put the product together, the trailers are a cleaner, smarter and stronger than the rest.
“You’ve got to listen to your customers, as things change you’ve got to change with them. It’s a team effort, when you look at our products, a lot of ideas on our trailers are farmers’ ideas, if it’s right we fit it.”
Bailey is now the leading brand of agricultural trailers in the UK; we also supply trailers to construction, utilities, amenities and market garden businesses. Our products are sold and supported by a nationwide dealer network, we are also represented by dealerships in Scandinavia and New Zealand.
Our story is one of innovation, ambition and sheer hard work. In just 40 years we have grown from one man in a workshop into a major global brand. We remain a family business across three generations; proud of our heritage, driven by our core values and founding principles and committed to the success of our customers.
