Parker Kislingbury… and Tony James. Two names that have been out of the limelight for a while but which are now re-emerging with an exciting vision for a profitable future in hardwood supply.

Based in Brill, Buckinghamshire, Parker Kislingbury (PK) has undergone several changes of ownership since its heyday in the 1980s. Along the way, as a small part of large groups, the company’s identity as a specialist and innovative hardwood supplier had become diluted.

Enter Tony James who left Timbmet in 1999 after seven successful years as group managing director, during which time the company doubled turnover to £76m by ‘expanding beyond simply supplying sawn lumber and into added-value products’.

On leaving the company he wrote to Finnforest, which had owned PK since 1996, and offered to buy it. The deal was completed with private backing last year, and since then Mr James has been very busy – taking on new staff, building accounts… and cooking lunchtime barbecues.

‘We finalised the sale on May 1, and during the summer months I cooked a barbecue for the staff every Friday lunchtime,’ said Mr James.

Alfresco chef might seem a novel entry in a managing director’s job description but it illustrates the ‘outside the box’ thinking and people-oriented philosophy that characterise Tony James’ attitude to business. The barbecues were an ‘enjoyable way to build rapport and relationships’, he said.

‘When we bought the company it had a turnover of £3.5m and just 12 employees – with no external reps,’ said Mr James. ‘Costs had been stripped out as the various big group owners had sought to meet the challenge of rising costs and falling margins. There was no fat on the bone, which was an excellent position for us to start from.’

During the past nine months the company has taken on three new external reps and the number of accounts has increased from 200 to 550.

&#8220My goal is to take Parker Kislingbury to the position it had in the 80s. The business had lost its way a bit during the many takeovers – it needed an owner-manager to live, breathe, sleep it.”

Tony James, Parker Kislingbury

The seven-acre site in Brill – purpose-built for PK in the 1980s – includes 100,000ft2 of undercover storage. At present around £1.5m of temperate and tropical hardwoods is held in stock, although this is likely to increase. The company remains a specialist in teak, and its stocks of other commercially important species include a selection of ‘Super Prime’ grades and a wide range of machined products such as mouldings, decking and windowboards. In addition to these standard profiles, the company offers a bespoke machining service.

Building on a vision

‘My goal is to take Parker Kislingbury to the position it had in the 80s. The business had lost its way a bit during the many takeovers – it needed an owner-manager to live, breathe, sleep it.

‘The driving force for me is not turnover but profit. This business is going to be profitable, and we will achieve that by working in partnership with suppliers and with

customers of all sizes who are looking for quality products and quality service.

‘One of the big opportunities available to us is to make hardwood more accessible to end-users. It’s easy to buy softwood – all the major sheds stock it – but hardwood is difficult and it shouldn’t be. The challenge is to make it as easy as possible for a customer to find out about hardwood, decide to buy it, find a supplier and specify and use it.

‘There is a need today for a specialist company offering the service that we are developing. Building up this company will be an exciting job. I’m looking forward to it and I want all the staff to get the same level of enjoyment as we take Parker Kislingbury forward on the back of our innovative vision for the future of hardwood supply in the UK.’