History Of Asgard Storage

Where it all started for Asgard

Walk into our factory on Leeds Road in Bradford, and you're standing in a piece of Yorkshire history. This building has been serving the local community for over a century, just in very different ways.

Back in the early 1900s, this was the Thornbury tram depot, a bustling hub for Bradford Corporation Tramways. Trams would rumble in and out, connecting Leeds Road to the suburbs, carrying thousands of passengers every day. It was proper Victorian industrial engineering, and built to last.

As Bradford's tram system declined (like most cities in the mid-20th century), the depot adapted to house buses instead. The building kept working, kept serving the city, just in a different form.

A new chapter begins

Fast forward to 1988. Flexiform, an office furniture manufacturer, was looking to expand. They saw potential in these old tram sheds - solid Victorian architecture, plenty of space, and that distinctive industrial character that you just can't replicate in a modern unit.

The historic structure was repurposed for manufacturing, blending Victorian industrial design with modern factory needs. And that's where our story really begins.

The Parker Box - Asgard is concieved ...

In the early 2000s, Ray Parker, Factory Manager at Flexiform, was on holiday at the coast in his static caravan. He noticed other caravan owners on the site building makeshift storage units out of wood. They looked awful and were something of a fire risk.

Ray pulled out a sketch pad and started designing. With 40 years of manufacturing experience and deep knowledge of sheet steel manufacturing, he created the first prototype - the Parker Box, named after its creator.

These new storage boxes blended in with the caravans in both colour and style. They were made from sheet steel, with the plan to send them out for hot-dip galvanising to protect them from the elements.

"Unfortunately, we hadn't allowed for the hot dipping which totally distorted the panels. That was when we decided to manufacture them from pre-galvanised steel and the first prototypes were made," Ray explains.

Above: One of the earliest models of Asgard sheds

Building the range

Flexiform knew we needed more than one model if we were going to create a credible product range. So we designed and made five products, which we had tested for strength and security.

After several failures and redesigns (that's how you learn), we got our Loss Prevention certification. The storage shed range had grown enough to warrant its own identity.

Asgard is born - 2003

In 2003, we launched the new Asgard brand at the Chelsea Flower Show. The range was well received, and Asgard became its own entity - a sister company to Flexiform.

When you hear Asgard, you probably think of Thor and the Marvel films. That's exactly where we got the inspiration from - though we were thinking more about Norse mythology than Chris Hemsworth!

"We wanted a name that portrayed strength and security, qualities embedded in all our products. We went through names representing those qualities and quickly found that many related to Vikings, Greeks, or Romans were already taken. Then we found it - Asgard, the fortress home of the Norse Gods. What better sums up secure storage than a fortress?"

Growing with customer feedback

With every event and show, people asked us to make specials. During the Calor Gas Roadshow, someone asked for boxes specifically for gas bottles. These special requests gradually became part of the standard range.

That's how we've always worked - listening to what people actually need, then designing and manufacturing solutions in-house with our own engineering team. Some of that team have been here from the very start.

The building today

In 2012, part of the original tram sheds was demolished, but the remaining section continues to serve as our factory. We're still here on Leeds Road, still manufacturing in Bradford, maintaining that tangible link to the city's industrial heritage.

From housing trams in the early 1900s to manufacturing secure steel storage in the 2020s - the building's still doing what it's always done: serving the community with quality Yorkshire engineering.

Over the past twenty years, Asgard has grown into an industry-leading storage company with affiliations with Team GB and various industry bodies. We continue to design new products and improve existing ones, ensuring we provide the strongest, most secure steel storage on the market.

All from a factory that once housed Bradford's trams. Not bad for a building that's over a century old.

Asgard sheds - A history of Asgard Sheds here >