Step back in time
Take a look at some of Marthall's key milestones of the last 32+ years.
Summer 1990: The beginning
Around this time, legend has it, a spritely Dave Godsmark was approached by 2 gentlemen from a local landscaping company to start a direct to site timber supply business. For this to work, a couple of things needed to be planned, the first was for Dave to leave his current employment of Allinsons’ Builders Merchant in Cheadle, where timing was critical to receive his full pay before he parted company. Second was to agree a deal with Leo Diamond of A Diamond & Son Sawmills for extended credit to allow the seeds of the new venture to grow. Leo has said on many occasions this was one of the best business decisions he ever made.
October 1990: Daves first day
Arriving at Marthall Tree Products, fresh from leaving Allinsons’ and having driven buses for a month, Dave arrived to find everything wasn’t quite ready. He was introduced to his new temporary office of a lovely plush, bug infested caravan, in the corner of Marthall Nursery overlooking what would become Marthall Tree Products as you see today.
January 1991: The Office
Here's the office from where Marthall Tree Products operated. The original office is still intact to this day, although in its extended form. Looking at the picture, apart from Dave Godmark's youthful appearance, many of the items were still in use 20 years later. The orange hole punch upon his desk is fully functional to this day. In the background we can see the nursery, Marthall will expand into in the coming years.
September 1993: Stock arrives
During the summer of 1993, and in the midst of a global recession, it was decided that Marthall Tree Products would hold a limited range of stock items. This was mainly due to customers not wanting to commit to full / half loads direct from the mill. Some of the first items stocked were 2.4m 100x100mm, 4.8m 100x38mm and 1.8m Feather Edge. Over the coming years new items were added to make up the range we have today.
January 2008: Full steam ahead
With the delivery of our 2nd 26 Tonne Crane vehicle, purchased from Imperial Commercials in Stoke-On-Trent, we were able to send 3 vehicles out to deliver A Diamond & Son's finest timber. This newly purchased Daf CF didn't come without its problems, not mechanical but in the form of road tax. As it was fitted with the latest fuel-efficient engine, we had to send a member of staff off to Trafford Park for the morning, with all the relevant paper work, just to be road legal! From the picture it looked to be a typical damp and dreary January day brightened with this monumental highlight.
January 2013: Crane Vehicle 3
2013 started with the replacement of the 54 plate Daf, this new truck was the first of the Marthall fleet to use Fassi as the crane manufacturer. This was supplied and fitted by the Crane Centre, Sandbach. With the input of our transport staff, we increased the lifting capacity, allowing for the larger packs and deliveries we were now undertaking. Again, the sun has failed to show in January for this photo opportunity.
November 2017: Official shop opening
After many months of disruption, we were finally able to officially launch Marthall Shop version 3. Our longest standing customer, Mr Richard Kennerley was on hand to cut the ribbon or in this case an Imex Brick Line, which opened the shop we operate from to this day. The build took 16 weeks in total and totally transformed an open shed into a fully functioning shop and office space. Major talking points during the build was the height of the false ceiling, the reasons became clear during the winter as the extra insulation retained the heat and as a bonus in the summer kept the space cool!
July 2020: A smaller truck
We ordered a new vehicle the previous year, expecting everything to be quite normal, unbeknown to ourselves and millions of others, we would all be plummeted into a Covid pandemic. After an extended wait, we took delivery of the latest Marthall vehicle. The idea behind the new truck was something a little smaller to go that extra mile when delivering. Little did we know the smaller truck wasn't actually any smaller.
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