TIMBER R
owlinson Group, established in 1926, has launched a centenary campaign, celebrating its diverse family of brands. Founded as James Rowlinson & Sons, the company was officially formed at Elevator Road in Trafford Park in 1926, and has since grown into a global operation encompassing several brands: Rowlinson Garden Products, Rowlinson Packaging, Rowlinson Packaging (South) and Baltic Connexions (Bertilo), the group’s international arm Based in Estonia. Jimmy Rowlinson, chairman of Rowlinson Group, says: “Reaching our 100th year is a moment of immense pride for our family and employees.
“From my grandfather’s first timber yard in 1926, to my father Norman, who expanded the Willaston site and manufactured Fords and Vauxhall car cases for export to the Commonwealth assembly plants, we have always innovated on opportunities within the market.
“He made shuttering for Drax Power Station, Conwy Tunnel, Sellafield Nuclear Plant and Faslane Submarine Base on the Clyde. He then set up Rowlinson Packaging and bought the site at Wardle in 1966.
“We have always been defined by the quality and design of our wooden products and the strength of our relationships.”
Since its founding, the business has solidified its standing. The 1980s saw the Group pivot towards modern logistics and retail, and as shipping moved toward containerization the company began manufacturing garden sheds for major DIY retailers such as Homebase.
Rowlinson explains: “We’ve evolved from being timber importers and suppliers, to builders and timber merchants throughout the UK, then to becoming Manufacturers of timber and related products. We have two packaging industrial companies which cater for the car industry and the agricultural industry, as well as industrial packaging, and when export cases started to dry up and shipping became more containerized, we started to manufacture timber sheds and we came out with the first 6 x 4 shed really in the country. We started producing garden buildings and then we started to produce Garden furniture benches and picnic tables and then we started to get involved in importing Garden furniture from South Africa.”
“We later took a decision that we would sell our merchant branches and concentrate on
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A CENTURY IN WOOD
Oliver Stanley speaks to timber specialist Rowlinson Group to see what goes in to maintaining 100 years of heritage and innovation.
other parts of our business, setting up our own home delivery service. What you have to do in this industry is respond to what your customer base needs, which we’ve done in a number of ways. Whether by choosing products to manufacture or distribute from abroad, we’ve always managed to change with the times.”
As technology developed, more shoppers moved online and
the group launched its home delivery offer. Eventually they were able to deliver garden buildings to the customer’s door nationally, all within 7 days of an order placed. Rowlinson continues: “People want a job done these days. They want that convenience so there’s always going to be room for independent builders’ merchants as long as they are can give their customers what they want.
“The best advice I could give to merchants is give your customers what they want. Give
them a good service and normally builders are fairly loyal so I would recommend independent builders merchant to concentrate on their service.”
A legacy for the future Entering its second century, the Rowlinson Group has scaled up to manage over 1000 SKUs and has undertaken major site expansions for its UK and Estonian divisions.
To thank the customers and partners who have been part of their journey, Rowlinson launched a centenary competition, giving away over £20,000 worth of garden prizes. The competition ran through to the end of May, and offered 100 participants the chance to win one of 100 of the brand’s most popular products. Rowlinson concludes: “From my grandfather’s first timber yard to my son William, who is now working in the business to take it forward into the 21st century, focusing on sustainable manufacturing and carbon reduction. “This campaign is a tribute to the
craftsmanship that has sustained us for a century and the innovation that will carry us through the next one.
“The celebration is really about the people. We are very proud to be 100 years old but it’s the people we employ who’ve taken us there and so we’re very grateful for the people we employ. It’s a family business, and everybody that’s working here is part of that family. “We’ve also got people in our team that have followed in the footsteps of their parents over the years, and that’s a nice thing as well.” BMJ
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net June 2026
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