Our hardwood merchants business was established in 1862 and over 150 years later the company remains an independent family business committed to supplying quality hardwood and softwood, with a reputation for our high standard of service. Birmingham developed as an industrial centre around the extensive canal network and it was here that John Sykes first established a timber business in partnership with James Stevens. John Sykes then set up his own premises in Sheepcote Street in 1862, where he sold many hardwood timbers from a variety of countries. They supplied Oak and Elm for the wheels of horse-drawn vehicles. George Sykes joined his father in 1870, at the age of 14, and for the next 30 years they worked together to expand the business. Our old Sheepcote Street premises in Birmingham An old photograph of the entrance to Sykes Timber old yard in Sheepcote Street Birmingham Logs being unloaded at our old yard in Darlaston An old photograph of logs being unloaded from a canal barge at Sykes Timber old yard in Darlaston After George Sykes took over from his father in 1900 he opened an additional yard in Sheepcote Street and one in Darlaston, where logs were turned into planks now using power-driven saws. The third generation, Joseph Sykes, entered the business in 1913, but was soon called away for military service in the First World War. The existing yards became too small for the enlarging business and so the Directors found a new 10 acre site in Atherstone, Warwickshire. Here plans were laid for mills, seasoning sheds, service roads and offices. The company moved to Atherstone in 1966 and has continued to add further facilities. Atherstone is directly linked to the A5 and thus the Midlands and national road and motorway networks.
