The History of Arnold Laver
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| From Humble beginnings
In 1920 Arnold Laver returned from the Great War in Germany. He announced to his father that, instead of rejoining the family business, he intended to use his savings to start up as a timber merchant. The response was "Don't come crawling back here when it's gone."
He never had to! The first site was in Heeley, Sheffield where Arnold "took off his coat and fenced it himself". Customers paid cash in advance so Arnold could buy the wood to fulfil their order. Deliveries were made by hand cart. Within the year they were doing well enough to buy machinery such as a saw bench and planer and buy their first horse "Charlie" to make deliveries.
The Laver family
Although Mr. Arnold Laver passed away in 1971, the Laver family have continued to keep the traditional values that he instilled. Alan Laver took over the running of the business from his father and now the third generation of the family, David Laver and Andrew Laver all help to keep the business growing. The TTJ Timber & Wood Products once said of the company "...it has a comforting old fashioned commitment to customer service" There is no doubt that these essential family values have helped to build Arnold Laver Timberworld into the company that it is today. One of the leading Independent timber merchants in the UK. | |  |
| Growth through determination
Determination and sheer hard work saw the business grow. When asked what hours they worked, Arnold Laver always gave the same answer "24 hours a day, and don't be late in the morning!" Billy Walker, one of Arnold Laver's first employees remembers "We worked long hours, we worked hard, we were keen to see the business succeed. All simply because the man at the top worked just as long, just as hard and was just as determined that the firm would prosper." And prosper it did. Before long the Heeley site just wasn't big enough.
In 1925 Arnold Laver began negotiations to purchase a much larger site on Bramall Lane. Billy Walker remembers his thoughts on first seeing the new site "...I gazed at this vast empty space and wondered how we were ever going to fill it" But they soon did and in 1927 the new Olympic Sawmills were up and running.
From strength to strength
From these humble beginnings Arnold Laver grew to the company that we know today. Now with many major sites across the UK, Arnold Laver Timber World is known and respected nationally as a company representing quality and choice. The firm also enjoys international respect in the Russian, Scandinavian and Canadian timber circles making the Laver family and their company an essential part of the worldwide timber industry. |
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