Tate Haulage

Tate Haulage was a business that was owned by the Tate family from their return to Beckindale in 1989, until it was bankrupted by the King's haulage business.

In March 1999, Tate Haulage is broken into with the company's lawyer Laura Johnstone inside. She is unable to identify the robber before he flees. Chris Tate immediately realises that Sean Reynolds is behind it, but the police do not have enough evidence to prosecute Sean. In September of the same year, the business is covered in graffiti. Chris is kidnapped by an unknown assailant, the culprit later being revealed as Liam Hammond.

In March 2000, tragedy strikes for the business when the brakes fail on one of the Tate Haulage lorries and it crashes into a minibus. Lorry driver Pete Collins is killed, as well as minibus passengers Patricia Holmes, Bob Simmons and Butch Dingle. The company goes under heavy investigation and ends up loosing a lot of money. Many protests are held against Tate Haulage's vehicles being on the roads, one of which involves Chris's ex-wife Kathy Glover chaining herself to one of the lorries. However, the company is found not at fault and are allowed to resume.

In December 2001, Marc Reynolds attempts to flee the village to avoid being prosecuted for a hit-and-run on Barbara Strickland. However, Marc has a change of heart and returns to the village.

In May 2002, Chris's wife Charity Tate discovers that Ray Mullan has been using the Tate Haulage trucks to bring illegal immigrants into the country. However, Ray manages to get away with the crime despite Charity calling the police on him.

In February 2004, Carl King, under the fake name of Carl McKenzie, is hired as a truck driver. His deceit is discovered in March 2004 when Scott Windsor catches Carl talking to Matthew King, and realises that they are brothers. The company is bankrupted later that year when the King's haulage company proves to be more popular.