At A.L.F we pride ourselves on innovation. We search the world for new and exciting products to bring into the UK market to help the retailers stay one step ahead. Alf have an ever growing fleet of vehicles and a team of 6 of the best resp on the road. Our operation is backed up with a state of the art warehouse and a full telesales team.

A.L.F (Aquatic Distributors) Ltd was founded by Kevin Barton BEng Hons in 1988 . Kevin had progressed from being a design engineer to studying chartered accountancy. He then decided that rather than advising people on running their businesses he would buy one himself. He bought a small company which was supplying live food to the aquatic market. The company at the time was based in a small warehouse in Hitchin. Kevin saw a gap in the market which just needed a bit of time, professionalism and 100% dedication. Kevin and his father commuted from their home in Suffolk for the first few years. Their daily routine started at 4.00am when they would go into work and start getting the orders picked and packed. Kevins dad would then deliver the orders whilst Kevin looked at sales and stock ordering and other day to day issues. Their work day would normally finish around 11.00pm and then a quick bite to eat, a few hours to sleep before the 4.00am alarm would sound once again.

The dedication of the 2 men paid off and soon a relocation to a larger warehouse unit in Letchworth was on the Horizon. This also meant that a few more "dry" goods could be added to the portfolio as there was more space to store it. Over the next few years the business was able to sustain employing a few more staff -another driver and a telesales person were employed as well as a few warehouse people. Kevins sister was roped into the business in between starting a family and she painstakingly produced a typed out pricelist and then photocopied it. A rep was also employed who covered East Anglia. Live fish food was now becoming less and less a part of the business but to make this more efficient a packing machine was purchased which meant that no one needed to hand tie the numerous bags of fish food. The live food was still fished by an employee who then also took control of the packing machine.

After a few more years Kevin and his dad bought a flat locally after spending time in a caravan to avoid the commuting so the accomodation was 100 times better than the caravan. Although they were still working many hours this time was spent in developing the business. During the latter part of the business being in Letchworth problems associated with increasing business started to happen and so Kevins girlfriend at the time took 6 months out from her Retail management career, trouble shooting for a national chain of retail shops and went to help Kevin. With the help of this extra key person there was more time for Kevin to come up with development plans for the business and a move to Biggleswade was quickly on the horizon.

The Biggleswade warehouse looked huge in comparison and a comment of "How ever are we going to fill this" still makes some of us chuckle even today. A few more reps were taken on and before we knew it we had 4 warehouses on the industrial estate! Kevin and Tania sold both their houses/flats and bought a house together - Kevins dad moved back to Sudbury but still travelled down most weeks to lend that helping hand. John Pullen from Hagen soon joined the A.L.F team and later became sales director responsible for the great team of reps we still have today. With Johns input into the business sales increased and another move was soon on the horizon , we decided running 4 warehouses was quite inefficent and decided to put it all back together in one warehouse in Bedford.

John has since left the company to join new venture and we have strengthened our sales team to 8 reps covering most of the UK. 

During 2009 Keith Alligan was promoted to National Sales Manager to help look after our ever growing team or sales people . We are very fortunate to still have the best reps in the Aquatic Market who are helping the company go from strength to strength . During 2009 we have developed our Pet range further and now have a specific Pet catalogue as well as our comprehensive Aquatic and Reptile Catalogue . Keith has also been very involved in developing the pet range and has used his vast experience within this field to ensure that the products we are sourcing are new and exciting for the Uk. 

Andy Hoskins (ex Frosts buyer) also joined our management team in the capacity of buyer and has quickly settled down into his new role and is already making a difference within the company. 

During 2009 Alf also became the  Uk Exclusive imported to Fascinations , World Alive and more recently for tech Card technology products . These ranges of products are predominantly gift orientated which have proven ideal for many of the garden centres we already supply . This has also enabled us to leapfrog into the gift market which has been quite an exciting time for us.

 As I write this the new 2010 Aquatics / reptile catalogue has just gone to print as has the new Gift catalogue ready for the variety of trade shows which are starting at the end of January ! I am sure 2010 will be a busy time for us and we also wish all of you the very best for this year !