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Orpington-based independent wholesaler Kentish Match has gone back to the future by investing in its first new-generation Mercedes Sprinter van.
A 313CDI Medium model, it arrived via Sparshatts of Kent – the Sittingbourne dealer delivered its very first van to the same customer shortly after opening for business 32 years ago.
Although it, too, sported a three-pointed star on the grille, that first vehicle was a Hanomag-Henschel, a sub-brand owned by Daimler-Benz. It had a simple chassis and a diesel engine producing all of 60hp.
Which only goes to show how far things have moved on since 1975, because Kentish Match’s new Sprinter is powered by an advanced, 129hp common-rail turbodiesel engine and positively bristles with state-of-the-art features, including the latest Adaptive ESP ® stability control system.
Kentish Match was founded by Grahame Smith in 1965, initially to distribute matches produced in the UK and imported from Austria and Finland. Grahame’s brother David joined him later that year and the two quickly diversified to distribute a wide range of products.
Today, Grahame’s son Andrew is also heavily involved. Kentish Match still supplies matches (now made in the Czech Republic) but also wholesales a wide range of confectionary and other products to corner shops, newsagents and convenience stores throughout London and the South.
It does so using a fleet of five Mercedes Sprinters – the latest is its first from the new-generation range launched in 2006 – which are based at its headquarters in Faraday Way, Orpington, and another branch in Caterham.
Graham Smith recalls: “I bought the first van that Sparshatts ever sold and I’ve been buying from them ever since. We are both family businesses and they are lovely people to deal with – whenever we’ve needed support or help, they’ve always provided it.”
Indeed, the links between the two firms are underpinned by the fact that Andrew Smith spent 11 years working in the parts department at Sparshatts, Dartford, before leaving to work alongside his father.
“We’ve tended to buy a new van every year and, being Mercedes, they’ve always proved strong and reliable,” says Andrew Smith. “The new model is a real winner, with a very high standard specification to which we’ve added optional air-conditioning – our guys have to work in the centre of London and you don’t want to be doing that at the height of summer without aircon!”
Sparshatts of Kent is one of Britain’s most successful Mercedes-Benz truck and van dealers. Van sales executive Helen Walker, whose father David Jones founded the business in 1975 with partner Roger Sparshatt, and who remains at the helm, adds: “We have many long-standing customers but none go back further than Kentish Match. Just as our fathers have done for so long, I now look forward to working with Andrew to the benefit of both our companies for many years to come.” |
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