History
The company began as a small coal and wood merchant in Glastonbury back in the 1800’s.
In 1988 Snows was bought by Bradford group.
In 2018, the company embarked on a review of its operations, which resulted in the closure of its Dudley distribution centre, and the start of a regeneration programme of £500,000 began at its Mansfield distribution centre.
In March 2019, however, Snows became independent again, following a management buyout.
As part of the change of ownership, the Glastonbury head office and distribution centre were sold to Sydenham’s in February 2019. The sale agreement stipulated that Snows could not trade in Devon, Cornwall and Somerset for a period of 12 months, starting on 1 March.
The National Sales Office in Towcester then became the new head office for the company.
At the time, Managing Director Ian Church, who led the buyout, said, “This is great news for us and for Snows’ customers. It enables us to create a truly agile business and to continue investing in the areas that really need it.
In august 2019 Snows had entered in to partnership with US manufacturer AZEK Building Products. The partnership saw the introduction of the TimberTech capped composite decking brand to the Snows Timber range.
On the 18th November after an eventful year the timber merchant went into administration.
According to administrators’ documents, it soon became apparent that things were not well with the company, which had been loss-making for some time. Key personnel left and a newly-installed finance boss found errors in the financial reporting of the company and “significant shortfalls” in its cash flow position.
Management accounts show that Snows made a loss of almost £920,000 for the six months to October 2019.
Administrators tried to find a buyer but it became apparent that the company’s cash flow was in such a parlous state that it wouldn’t have been able to trade for long enough to find one.
The Explore
Another local-ish explore this time I headed down to Andover for snows timber yard after it went bust a few years ago…
Today not much remains of this once thriving timber yard, the offices have been smashed to bits and are starting to decay.
The old workshops stripped and empty except for 1 which amazingly enough still some machinery inside although most of it had been dismantled ready for scrap.
As I headed further up the huge yard, to my surprise I set an alarm off which I thought was odd I then spotted a small white van under 1 of the workshops so I ran back down the bottom of the yard then the alarm stopped and no 1 came so I went back up to investigate what was so special about the top of the yard, set the alarm off again and it became clear that the top section was still in use (according to a sign out the front a company called formtek)
No point photographing a live business so I left that small top bit and checked the van out which turned out to be a smashed up knackered wreck, still setting alarms off I headed back down to finish off.
The company began as a small coal and wood merchant in Glastonbury back in the 1800’s.
In 1988 Snows was bought by Bradford group.
In 2018, the company embarked on a review of its operations, which resulted in the closure of its Dudley distribution centre, and the start of a regeneration programme of £500,000 began at its Mansfield distribution centre.
In March 2019, however, Snows became independent again, following a management buyout.
As part of the change of ownership, the Glastonbury head office and distribution centre were sold to Sydenham’s in February 2019. The sale agreement stipulated that Snows could not trade in Devon, Cornwall and Somerset for a period of 12 months, starting on 1 March.
The National Sales Office in Towcester then became the new head office for the company.
At the time, Managing Director Ian Church, who led the buyout, said, “This is great news for us and for Snows’ customers. It enables us to create a truly agile business and to continue investing in the areas that really need it.
In august 2019 Snows had entered in to partnership with US manufacturer AZEK Building Products. The partnership saw the introduction of the TimberTech capped composite decking brand to the Snows Timber range.
On the 18th November after an eventful year the timber merchant went into administration.
According to administrators’ documents, it soon became apparent that things were not well with the company, which had been loss-making for some time. Key personnel left and a newly-installed finance boss found errors in the financial reporting of the company and “significant shortfalls” in its cash flow position.
Management accounts show that Snows made a loss of almost £920,000 for the six months to October 2019.
Administrators tried to find a buyer but it became apparent that the company’s cash flow was in such a parlous state that it wouldn’t have been able to trade for long enough to find one.
The Explore
Another local-ish explore this time I headed down to Andover for snows timber yard after it went bust a few years ago…
Today not much remains of this once thriving timber yard, the offices have been smashed to bits and are starting to decay.
The old workshops stripped and empty except for 1 which amazingly enough still some machinery inside although most of it had been dismantled ready for scrap.
As I headed further up the huge yard, to my surprise I set an alarm off which I thought was odd I then spotted a small white van under 1 of the workshops so I ran back down the bottom of the yard then the alarm stopped and no 1 came so I went back up to investigate what was so special about the top of the yard, set the alarm off again and it became clear that the top section was still in use (according to a sign out the front a company called formtek)
No point photographing a live business so I left that small top bit and checked the van out which turned out to be a smashed up knackered wreck, still setting alarms off I headed back down to finish off.
