County Hardwoods Ltd has been trading since 1985 close to Taunton and the M5 motorway. Founder Nick Smyth has a wide experience of practical woodworking, as before this he was partner in a successful bespoke kitchen manufacturers.
Seeing an opportunity in hardwood flooring a redundant paper mill was acquired and the business quickly set about supplying the trade and public mainly with wide oak boards. This then led to an innovative design in cottage doors, ready assembled and in kit form. And machining architraves, skirtings and thresholds that an increasing number of country restorers were looking for. Altogether some 20,000 sq ft of covered storage and workshops is used, and nearly twenty employed within the group.
County Hardwoods supply nationwide and through the years customers have included the National Trust and the Landmark Trust amongst many others (see testimonials on this page).
The staff at County Hardwoods, most of whom have years of experience in the trade, are people who have a genuine interest in and feeling for wood.
In 2001 County Granite and Marble Ltd was formed to cater for the increasing demand for this up-market material for kitchen worktops and receptions. Considerable investment has been made in the latest CNC stone cutting and polishing machinery sourced in Italy.
The expansion has gone well as many of County Hardwoods' customers are involved in country house conversions, and while they need oak flooring, the kitchen is often improved as well. The skills that staff have used for wood machining can, with training, be translated to the demands of natural stone.
As Nick has said "In some ways granite is like wood in that every slab is different , whether it comes from Italy, India or Scandinavia. You never really know till it is cut and polished how the veins and colours will appear."
For more on granite see our sister website www.countygranite.co.uk.  |
