Discovering a £multi-million third-generation family business
The rebranding of a modest Cheltenham timber business caught a few people’s eyes recently, but you might not have realised you were looking at a £7m turnover third generation family firm.
This week's blog is from guest writer and leading journalist, Andrew Merrell. The article first appeared in The Raikes Journal on 28th February 2025.
We’ll get to the cause for celebration in a moment, but if you ask George Smith what the biggest challenge is for his business is currently he’ll tell you what others also tell Raikes – that “cost is the big thing”.
At the moment, no matter what battles lie ahead, the here and now sees Smith and his team celebrating as his business clocks 80 years - and announces some changes.
Why mix up the trials and tribulations of running a business with the celebrations?
We think it shows that even when there’s uncertainty at every turn there are those who are able to make plans, react to the unforeseeable, think strategically and raise a glass. We think that’s worth recognising - and deserves a little credit.
Most who are aware of Cheltenham Timber probably don’t realise, but the modest business just off Tewkesbury Road near Kingsditch Retail Park is part of a family-owned group of three outlets - a group that has grown from a single timber yard started by one man to a company with a £7 million turnover and 50 staff.
If you didn’t know that, at least you may have spotted the change of name of the Cheltenham operation to Walford Timber, a move which brings all three businesses (there’s one a stone’s throw from the Forest of Dean and another in Buckinghamshire) more obviously under one roof.
Not surprisingly, for Smith this is a big deal. It’s an opportunity to raise the profile of a business forging ahead despite operating in a sector that’s still recovering from the yo-yo impact on prices of the covid-19 pandemic.
And one that’s currently bracing itself for the impact President Donald Trump’s tariff wars.
“Timber prices went through the roof, then dropped back through the floor, and have only just found their level,” said Smith, the firm’s managing director, explaining the vagaries of the market through the pandemic and since.
“We used to run a sawmill ourselves and buy in lot of timber from the Forest of Dean, but now we buy in, converting it into fence panels, gates, sheds and other products ourselves.
“We only use sawmills and timber from the British Isles. But the UK as a whole is hugely dependent on timber imports.
“If tariffs on Canada impact, for example, it will means a lot of Scandanavian wood coud diverted there instead as they struggle to meet demand. The only way buyers here in the UK will get that wood is if they pay more.”
Which means, inevitably, the British wood Walford uses will cost more too.
We’ve not even discussed the fuel price fluctuations that followed the pandemic or those other two hot topics of the moment, the rise in National Insurance contributions and the minimum wage, both due to come in this April.
“Cost is the big thing. But in that respect we are no different to any other business,” he said, sounding remarkably matter-of-fact and calm at the controls.
But then the business has weathered multiple recessions - including major flooding - as well as enjoying many highs and award wins and it’s still moving forward and smiling.
“We have been subjected to huge increases (in costs), but for us there is the commodity element.
“There is a ceiling price for some of our commodities. It is simply not possible to push the cost onto the customer.
“There are going to be some big challenges, and the solution is not always to put the price up. Yet we have to maintain our margin. You do that by becoming more efficient and planning for the long term.”
Some of that planning for the future has been helped by another key ‘investment’ Smith chose to make - in himself. And it’s one which is paying dividends.
Some of those valuable dividends are coming in the form of support from a network of fellow business leaders, many from across Gloucestershire. They are part of a huge family Smith became a part of by default after embarking on leadership courses with Gloucester-based QuoLux™.
“To have a network of NEDs (non-executive directors) who genuinely want to support each other, as well as challenge each other to achieve our goals has been extremely powerful given everything that has happened in the last 12 months.
“The trust and openness that has developed between us is remarkable. It has led to us achieving some amazing things, creating meaningful change within our businesses during a time when most people are just trying to keep the wheels turning,” said Smith, who began his journey with QuoLux™ in 2013.
He completed the full suite of LEAD™, GOLD™ and GAIN™, graduating in 2023, the same year as Peter Miles, of Forge Motorsport, and Mark Stewart, of Stewart Golf.
Smith came into the family business in 2001 after having headed off to Buckinghamshire to do a degree in Forestry and Timber Technology at Buckinghamshire New University.
The course is no more, but the Buckinghamshire town remains synonymous with all things timber and a centre for furniture making, with brands like Ercol long-established there.
Walford was started by his grandfather, Herbert Smith, in 1945, and images we’ve included with this article show its modest beginnings in the hamlet of Walford, just as the Forest of Dean flattens to meet the River Wye north of Symond’s Yat and South of Ross-on-Wye.
Expansion has included taking over a former supplier to acquire its third branch back across the county boundaries into Buckinghamshire. Former customer, G & M.B. Manning, in Chesham, gave Walford first refusal because it knew it would treat its business, staff and customers well.
“It (that deal) grew the business by about 20 per cent overnight,” said Smith.
Innovation has also kept the business ahead, including some clever technology to stop its fence posts rotting when they are in the ground - technology since ‘borrowed’ by some competitors, but still a selling point.
“We are immensely proud of our heritage and family legacy; what’s been key to our success is offering a personal service,” he said.
“We’ve tried to keep everything as consistent as we can to offer the same high-quality service, support and products as our long-serving customers have been used to seeing.”
We’ve gone over the ongoing challenges in his in-tray, but outside of his office the mood is upbeat, the nerves steady and it’s all systems go.
“Cheltenham has had a great start to the year. It has been doing really well since November. We have a great team and great people there,” said Smith.
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