Celebrating 40 Years of Off-Roading Expertise

When we started out in 1981 in the ‘Old Tin Shed’ at Baileys Mill in Tansley, becoming a leading supplier for 4x4 parts and tools around the globe was the grand ambition. 

Trevor Milner, the founder of Milner Off Road, bought the site after visiting the owners in London, having been initially outbid. His perseverance, as well as his knowledge of welding, agricultural vehicles and multiple stints working abroad, served as a springboard for what is now a hugely successful business and we’re proud to be celebrating our 40th birthday this year. View our latest infographic highlighting our journey below!

Onwards & Upwards

From small, humble beginnings, we’ve developed over the years by expanding our site and our operations with several moves. In our 40 years, we’ve committed ourselves to not only providing the best parts, but also the best service.

We’ve put ourselves in the position of being trusted by customers from around the world. Where others try to do things cheaply and cut corners, we invest in innovation and put our energy into delivering a swift service. We also have our own team of specialist advisors who you can call for advice and guidance - something other 4x4 parts specialists don’t offer, especially not on auction sites or through third-party sellers.

This confidence has led us to where we are now, our Old Road site in Darley Dale, Matlock. We’ve expanded the site to include an R&D workshop as well as a huge warehouse. This means not only can we work on creating the best components for our customers, but we can also hold stock for a whole host of products and dispatch them the same day when ordered.

Timeline 

1981 - Started trading from a property called Baileys Mill in Tansley, the start of something great.

1989 - Sold Baileys Mill and moved into The Old Silver Service Bus Garage (which became our workshop for building race cars in 2014).

2006 - Moved into our current site on Old Road in Darley Dale, Matlock which you can see in our new video!

2012 - Added a new R&D building at the front of our site, complete with a workshop to develop new products.

2017 - Added a large warehouse - 9,936 cubic metres with 1,200 pallet spaces! - to our current site in order to increase our stock levels and serve customers faster.

Strength to Strength

Not only did Trevor and his then partner Wynne raise a family in this time, they trained and developed an incredible group of employees - many of whom are still at Milners today. Now we have a 30-person strong team in Matlock, with 640,000 parts in stock at any one time. That means millions of orders over our 40 years for satisfied customers who come back to us again and again.

Our success has led us to be featured in a host of industry magazines and publications, plus we’ve also appeared at prestigious events like The Historic International Motorsport Show and The Goodwood Festival of Speed. 

The Future

Despite the challenges of 2020, our innovative business has continued to grow as we push forward with our own range of specially designed parts, bringing unrivalled quality to the industry.

It’s been a long road so far, and not without its bumps, but rest assured that there’s still plenty more fuel in our tank yet. We’ve established ourselves as leaders in the industry and we aim to keep it that way through our dedication to innovation and the refinement of our customer service. 

We want to thank every member of our Milner team for helping to make the business what it is today, as well as all the customers who’ve supported us over the years - we couldn’t have gotten to this milestone without you. 

We hope you’ll help us toast to 40 great years so far, with at least another 40 ahead!