Part 1 traces the change from small local trades and builders to Laindon's first planned New Town industrial estate.
Before large industrial estates were built, Laindon's economy was made up of farming, railway work, building trades, removals, repair businesses, shops and small yards. The railway and the rapid growth of plotland housing created demand for coal, timber, building materials, transport and practical local services.
As Laindon expanded in the early twentieth century, builders and merchants became increasingly important. Timber, bricks and other materials were needed for the thousands of individually built homes that appeared along the area's roads and plots. Firms and yards connected with building and construction became familiar parts of the High Road and railway district.
One of the best-known local names was J. H. Rawley. Jim Rawley was already established locally as a builder and contractor before the business was incorporated as J. H. Rawley (Plant Hire) Ltd in 1963. The company supplied machinery and plant at a time when huge amounts of construction were taking place across the developing New Town.
In 1968 J. H. Rawley became one of the first companies to move into premises on the new Laindon Industrial Estate while the estate was still under construction. Rawley machinery became a familiar sight on housing and infrastructure projects around Basildon.
The Development Corporation's first major industrial estate in Laindon reached completion in 1969. It covered Wrexham Road, Denbigh Road and part of the south side of Durham Road. The estate was deliberately designed to provide employment close to the rapidly expanding residential population.
Early occupiers included J. H. Rawley, Jeakins Removals, T. E. Collings and R. A. Turner. Several of these businesses were not newcomers to Laindon: they had already traded locally and were able to move into purpose-built industrial accommodation as older sites were cleared or redeveloped.
The road layout itself changed as the estate developed. Part of Denbigh Road was renamed Wrexham Road around 1970. Later redevelopment and the realignment of High Road altered access again, showing how industrial planning and residential rebuilding were taking place side by side.
The Durham Road estate represented a major change in the character of employment in Laindon. Work that had once been scattered through small yards, shops and roadside premises was increasingly concentrated into planned industrial units with better access for vehicles and machinery.