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The History of Till & Whitehead
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| The original Till & Whitehead
Premises in Manchester |
Till & Whitehead Limited was founded at the height
of Manchester's Victorian prosperity in 1876. This entrepreneurial
partnership between Thomas Till and Frederick Whitehead
used to occupy a converted Victorian town house on the
corner of Chester Road and Egerton Street in Hulme, not
far from the current Manchester branch, but of course
long before the advent of the Mancunian Way in fact the
city centre at that time was well within view of suburban
villas and open fields.
Although there was an acrimonious break-up between the
two original founders of the business in 1895, Thomas
Till retained a partnership interest ( below 50% ) and
subsequently less than 50% of the Limited Company shareholding
from 1896. The original partnership document which was
drawn up included a clause which resolved that in the
event of a "falling out" between the partners
the partnership could not be dissolved. Just as well,
as the business went from strength to strength and although
Thomas Till started a local builders merchant called Till
& Kennedy Limited the family retained an interest
and involvement in Till & Whitehead which has lasted
to this day.
In the Victorian era there was, as now, a lot of building
development going on in Manchester and the firm has over
the years been involved in all major growth projects within
the conurbation, supplying shovels for the Ship Canal,
rivets for the railways, and all manner of materials for
the building of the city's universities, motorways, office
blocks and airport.
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| Old Victorian townhouse buildings
being demolished in 1966 |
The Till & Whitehead up to the 1940's / 1950's had
three departments:
1. Builders Ironmongery and gutters, downspouts, grids
etc., manufactured from iron.
2. Engineers - nuts and bolts, tools etc. : Steel Warehouse,
Mill Furnishers.
3. Brass furniture & cabinet fittings. Architectural
Ironmongery.
A description of the business which appears on a letterhead
dated 1944 was :
Contractors to Railway, Tramway, Electric
Light, Power and Traction Engineers
By 1952 the letter head quoted:
Stockholders for engineers, and maintenance
supplier
In 1960 the business seemed to expand into :
General Ironmongers and tool dealers, builders
merchants and fireplace specialists. Cabinet makers requisites
The now familiar maroon colour was first used on the letter
heading in 1960.
During the early 60's it was noticed at the Chester Road
premises that the floorboards in the upstairs front of
the building were 4" away from the wall suggesting
that the building was leaning into the road. The roof
leaked water and upon reporting to Willie Whitehead (
son of the founder ) and asking for funds to re-roof the
property he declined and stated that the roof would "
see his time out". This prompted Bill Bradley to
ask what was the future of Till & Whitehead to which
the response was " There will always be a Till &
Whitehead ". Following this the site was threatened
with demolition due to the proposed building of the Mancunian
Way. The firm moved to its present premises on Ellesmere
Street, able there to hold much larger stocks and develop
other departmental interests.
Since its early days, the company has held one of the
earliest accounts ever opened with the Midland Bank (now
HSBC) in Manchester and that, according to T&W's Managing
Director, Stuart Padmore, has been 'a major factor in
our continued growth'.
This support was particularly significant when the 1960's
relocation to the present site was undertaken. The company
celebrated its centenary in 1976 at Lancashire's County
Cricket Ground at Old Trafford, when a huge range of the
firm's staff, customers and suppliers, past and present,
toasted Till & Whitehead's future prosperity.
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| The present day Manchester
branch |
This toast has now been realised in the major new marketing
initiatives that the firm is putting in place. In an industry
as traditional as builders' hardware and ironmongery,
it is very easy to stay with the old methods and practices
which 'kept our forefathers in business'.
However, the real skill, as T&W's current management
and family shareholders agree, is to combine the best
of traditional service, quality and reliability with modern
methods, stockholding, delivery and communications. To
this end, Till & Whitehead now boasts a large warehouse,
housing over 30,000 lines and a Trade Counter and Showroom
equipped with state-of-the-art systems and customer-friendly
staff.
In the financial year ended March 2001, the Company expanded
significantly with a careful acquisition policy and purchased
three similar businesses being AIS in Bolton in December
2000, L Birkinshaw in Leeds in January 2001, and FR Stubbs
in York on 31st March 2001. A further opportunity was
presented when an Engineers Merchant of fine pedigree,
and even greater longevity, Handley & Beck Ltd, went
into voluntary liquidation in September 2002. This was
a further expansion of the Group with a business of similar
background, ideals and structure and which compliments
the Manchester branch more closely than the other three
which are predominantly ironmongery based. In July 2005
Till & Whitehead has started its geographic expansion
in the south, buying the business called DIY Plastics
UK based in Faringdon.
Stuart Padmore, Managing Director comments: "We offer
an internal and external sales service that is second
to none. Whether your need is for advice, product suitability
or delivery information, our staff will assist in person
or by phone, fax or e-mail".
It didn't take a 130 years to appreciate the value of
customer service, but it certainly helps to know that
the local firm you are dealing with has been steeped in
a philosophy of customer satisfaction for that period
of time.
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