The Gauntlett family had been involved in the transport industry in and around the Hampshire/Surrey borders of southern England since 1859 when George Gauntlett first opened business as a haulier.
His descendants - who are now longer involved with the business - diversified
into the removals industry after WW2 and as early as 1950 they were amongst
the pioneers of trans-continental removals from Britain to southern Europe.
The route to Portugal from the U.K. was always one of the most complicated
& challenging - given the road conditions, the terrain en route and
the bureaucratic demands of the Portuguese customs. It was certainly never
a market for the faint-hearted but perhaps by chance rather than by design
it became a "niche" market for Gauntletts in England. The inevitable
decision to form a Portuguese subsidiary was taken in 1971 and Gauntlett
International Transportes Lda duly came into being in that year operating
at first from a small office in the home of the part-time manager in Carvoeiro
in the Algarve. Subsequently it was moved intho shopfront premises in
Lagôa where it continued to cater for the removal &
storage requirements of the burgeoning market comprised mainly of British
retirees in the Algarve and the company saw modest growth through the
70's & 80's.
In 1982 Gauntletts acquired the shareholding of a Portuguese transport
company which had a licence ("Alvara") to operate its own vehicles
within Portugal and thus became the only fully operation removal company
in the Algarve. A larger warehouse facility was acquired in 1985 in the
industrial zone of Portimão.
The 1990's saw the biggest changes in Gauntlett's fortunes. In 1991 an office was opened in Lisbon which gave the company access to the larger international market surrounding Portugal's capital city. In 1992 a small warehouse was acquired in the Estoril area and as the business expanded it moved to the present large & modern facility in Linhó between Estoril & Sintra.
Whilst the business in Portugal progressed satisfactorily, the Gauntlett
organisation in England suffered a series of disasters which ultimately
resulted in the Gauntlett family relinquishing control of the 2 companies.
In 1996 the majority shareholding in Gauntlett International Transportes
Lda was purchased by the resident manager of the company, Peter D. Eckersley.
It was his philosophy
of close personal involvement with the day to day running of the business
and fostering close interaction with customers that has been the cornerstone
of the development & success of the company in Portugal. Supported
by a team of dedicated multi-lingual employees who all strive to provide
the best of possible service in all aspects, the company is renowned for
high quality at affordable prices.
In December 2000, the Gauntlett operation in Linhó (Estoril) was
awarded the ISO 9002 certification of quality by IACER, the Portuguese
Institute of Quality Auditing & Certification.
In April 2005 in recognition of continued high quality services provided to members of the US military based in Portugal Gauntlett International was acclaimed as the European Personal Property Agent of the year by the US military Surface Deployment and Distributional Command at the annual meeting in Germany.
