The story of Hertfordshire Timber Supplies’ (HTS) inception is a fascinating one as it brings together an entrepreneurial timber trader with one of the most established families in the country.

Steve Grover has been involved in the timber industry around Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire for almost all of his working life, running sites for large merchant groups. As a result he has a large following of loyal customers.

Some years ago, having finished his tenure with a local independent group that was bought out by Harcros, Mr Grover spent some time at Southill Sawmills, on the Whitbread Estate, near Shefford in Bedfordshire. The sawmill is set within this beautiful 10,000-acre estate, including 1,000 acres of woodland, which is the ancestral home of the Whitbread brewing family, who have lived there since the 18th century.

Mr Grover was there only on a temporary basis and left to continue working in Hitchin.

Samuel Whitbread, Lord Lieutenant of Bedfordshire, has now retired as chairman of Whitbread plc and devotes a great deal of his time to the estate. Mr Whitbread and his long-standing agent, Mark Egar, realised that the sawmilling business needed to be brought right up to date.

After lengthy discussions, the parties finally agreed to bring Southill Sawmills under Steve Grover’s control, moving some of its assets and customer base into HTS. This business was largely financed by Mr Whitbread, with Mr Grover investing a smaller amount of capital.

Solid partnership

The partnership works extremely well; the Whitbread Estate has gained all of Steve Grover’s skill and enthusiasm, which has allowed Southill Sawmills to survive in a very tough market, boosted by the new venture, HTS, which began to trading in October 2000.

Experienced staff are the most important part of any timber merchanting business and while the site at Blackhorse Road, Letchworth, was being completely revamped, Mr Grover was also busy recruiting.

‘We started out with some transfer business from Southill Sawmills,’ Mr Grover explained, ‘and by the end of the first year we were already on an annualised sales path of £2.5m, which isn’t bad for a new start-up. Now we have to bring all that business along with us and continue the growth.’

‘While the site is still basic and needs a great deal more work, the financial and management controls are all in place and that should help us to manage the increases in business too.’

&#8220By the end of the first year we were already on an annualised sales path of £2.5m, which isn’t bad for a new start-up. Now we have to bring all that business along with us and continue the growth.”

Steve Grover, Hertfordshire Timber Supplies

It is plain to see some of the influences from the Whitbread side of the partnership. The company logo incorporates the family crest of a hind, for example. The yard and shop areas also bear witness to the sawmill, with many of their products available from stock, such as gates, fencing and posting, garden furniture and other items.

HTS concentrates solely on timber, sheet materials, doors, joinery and related products; it does not see itself entering the more popular route of building materials. There is a large yard area, holding good stocks of constructional timber, in sawn as well as treated sections.

The customer mix is made up from a large number of small customers and the delivery service is crucial to both sides; late deliveries are very expensive in terms of site delay and HTS has covered this with modern lorries, mixed between 7.5 tonne and ‘Transit’-type trucks.

Sawmill role

With HTS now up and running, Steve Grover has begun to turn more of his attention to Southill Sawmills back on the Whitbread Estate.

The sawmill is a relatively small unit, with basic sawing, treatment and chipping facilities, originally fed by raw materials from the estate’s forestry department. There are excellent workshop facilities which were also originally intended to produce the basic fencing and shed materials on the estate, but this is all changing rapidly.

There is the added advantage of space, which means that between the two businesses, there is a large stockholding site available and this will allow them much greater flexibility. With an on-site treatment facility as well, the flexibility of the whole arrangement is very useful.

Malcolm Griffin manages Southill Sawmills and, with his team, produces a wide range of timber products, which are either sold direct to its customers, or distributed through HTS. This has given the sawmill a far larger market; while it is in a lovely setting, it’s a long way from many of its potential customers and this is where the synergy between the two companies really comes into play.

Computer recording of patterns, styles and materials has meant that the previous method of starting from scratch has been reduced as much as possible. As time goes on, this will also help to ensure that products will be consistent and to a known standard.

The HTS/Southill Sawmills partnership is working well and looks set to grow a great deal more in the near future, bringing the traditions of estate management together with the entrepreneurial aspects of timber merchanting: good brew if ever there was one.