Wigan's Poundland transforms wagon with poppies for Remembrance weekend

The idea came from some of the colleagues working at Poundland’s transport depot in Wigan in Greater Manchester.

The chosen classy design features a white background adorned with a series of red poppies, black silhouettes of British “Tommies”, an RAF Lancaster aircraft, and the words “Lest We Forget”.

The wagon has been spotted on roads across the UK and has proved to be extremely popular with Poundland drivers and people who see it.

On Thursday (November 9) the wagon made a special journey to Catterick, near Richmond in North Yorkshire, where the British Army’s largest garrison in the world is based.

The visit gave some of the soldiers based there the opportunity to make their own inspection.

Poundland transport operations manager Anthony Kay said: “The idea came from a couple of colleagues in our office, two of whom have an ex military background.

"One served in the British Army, the other was in the Royal Air Force.

“The thought came when we wrapped a Poundland truck in Christmas livery last year and they said ‘why don’t we create a special Remembrance version?’

“They got together and started looking into the graphics for it and they designed how the truck should look after getting the backing from Poundland.

“It looks fantastic. It has a silhouette of a Lancaster at the top, the silhouettes of British soldiers looking solemn along the sides and a number of red poppies.

“When you see it up close particularly it looks really striking. It’s a very moving piece of artwork. It has a real presence to it.

“The feedback from members of the public and from drivers has been amazing. People love it.

“Since it has been wrapped, the wagon is never in the depot! All the drivers are really keen to take it out.

“Lots of people working at our site have strong connections with the services, whether they have brothers who have served, or dads, or grandfathers. It means a lot to them.

“On Remembrance Sunday we are taking it to visit St Helens, and then we’re planning to get it over to the War Memorial there.

“We have four gas-powered low carbon trucks now, and this is one of them, so it is zero emission as well.

“The initial idea came from Darren Pye, who’s ex-army, and Ian Ackroyd, who’s ex-RAF, while Chris Hesketh and Ian Marsh pulled it all together.

“ENV Graphics in Wigan have supported and created the final graphic – what a fantastic job they’ve done for us!

“Since then it has been on the road for the past three weeks, lots of people have seen it.

“It has been driven up to Scotland, Lancashire, Nottingham, Liverpool, Heysham, Birkenhead and all over the North West delivering to our stores.

“The lorry has had a great response. It’s been really well received by all.”