72 | Feature: Interview with Jeanette Corner
THE BATON PASSING
Jeanette Corner, MD of Mike England Timber, handed over the reins of the company in June. Here she shares her thoughts with Stephen Powney on 49 years of service in the timber trade
Above: The Mike England Timber site near Preston
Jeanette Corner has seen a lot in her near half-century of service in the UK timber trade. From starting as a teenage girl in a wood yard of the family timber merchant Mike England Timber in the 1970s to today 49 years later, she has seen significant changes in the structure of the industry, how trade is conducted and how women are viewed. Jeanette, whose retirement in June saw her pass the baton to her sister Liz Butterworth as new MD, has met a host of challenges over the decades and seen Mike England Timber grow and diversify into new products. The seeds of the business were started in the late 1960s when her father John Hardman had a conversation with friend and neighbour Mike England, a professional football player with Blackburn Rovers at the time. John was working for timber merchant Alfred Hulmes in Brinscall, but Mike encouraged him to set up business on his own with a promise to back him.
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So, Mike England Timber was born in 1969 near Preston, (still the same site today) as a traditional independent timber merchant, later adding joinery manufacturing. John went out to Sweden in the early
1970s to set up supply relationships, visiting numerous mills still supplying the business today. This includes AssiDomän (now Setra), Martinsons (now part of Holmen) and various northern Sweden mills via UK agent Gill & Robinson. “We’ve had a longstanding relationship with the same mills for over 50 years,” explained Jeanette.
“I joined the company from school on June 6, 1976,” she explained. “I did not have any inclinations as to what I wanted to do [career- wise].
“My father, being old school, said you have to go into each department to understand the trade and get a feeling of how each department is run.
“I started in the yard at the age of 16. At that time everything was handled manually, there were no sideloaders. We received timber in from Preston docks (and Hull) which was open in those days. All stock was checked in using tally sheets and a batten was used as a measure.”
She then went into the sawmill, working with the machinists.
“Eventually I came into the office where I trained and went to night school and college for typing, shorthand and went to the local BT for telephone reception training.” “With a background in the yard, sawmill and office, it gave me some insight into product knowledge making it easier to put the orders on, but my great desire was to go into sales because I loved meeting people. But that was unheard of at the time for a woman to go on the road selling.
“There were not many women in the trade at that time. I can remember there were three
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