Investment plans for Bradford timber business after £1m acquisition

Commercial property estate agency Ernest Wilson has sold Bradford timber merchants Baildon Timber to the Myers Group, a Huddersfield-based building supplies business, for £1m.

The Myers Group, which has been owned and run by the same family for four generations and employs 350 people across West Yorkshire, now plans a £500,000 investment in the business in order expand the stock range and carry out a full refurbishment of the site and buildings.

James Berry, managing director of the Myers group, said: “Baildon Timber is the perfect fit for us and there are clear synergies between our two family businesses, particularly as we both serve a customer base that is largely made up of small construction companies.

“The acquisition meets our aspirations for growth in the timber sector, as well as expanding our geographic footprint into the Baildon and east Bradford area of Yorkshire.”

The Myers Group, whose range of building supplies services to housebuilders and renovators spans skip hire, ready mix concrete and aggregates, as well as kitchens and bathrooms, plans to create three new jobs immediately at Baildon Timber, with further hires scheduled for the coming months.

“We pride ourselves on being a growing, progressive business and we’re really pleased to be able to invest in Baildon Timber to make it a bigger and better business. As well as a total refurbishment, we are creating a new, larger shop and trade counter and diversifying the product range to include other building supplies as well as timber.”

Michael Peel, Ernest Wilson sales manager, said: “Myers Group’s acquisition of Baildon Timber is a really good example of how the sale of a small business has triggered new investment and growth.

“Demand for small businesses like Baildon Timber is currently outstripping demand so the current market really is an ideal one for any business owner looking to exit the business.”

Acquired by property consultant Eddisons in 2019, Leeds-based Ernest Wilson was founded in 1956 and specialises in buying and selling hundreds of small businesses every year, from fish and chip shops to convenience stores and hotels. It has sold businesses worth more than £36m of since the start of the pandemic.