Arden Winch dates back to 1812, then called Richardson Brush Company and we still have the sales ledgers from those days.
In 1939 Laurence Arden Winch bought the Brush Works, whose premises were in Bath Street, Sheffield. Nancy Smith ran the Company during the war years and later became Managing Director upon his death. Laurence had one son, Richard, who although a member of the board, had his career in writing. He wrote a number of thrillers and many episodes of the Colditz series and others for BBC Television. After Richard’s death, his own son, Nicholas, became a non-executive Director, thus retaining the original family link.
In 1965 Bob Wetherill joined Arden Winch as Managing Director. Realising his vision of an expanding product range and a wider coverage of Yorkshire and Derbyshire, the Company grew in size with the opening of branches in Chesterfield, Batley, Doncaster and Nottingham. Bob's son Richard and daughter Anne are also non-executive Directors, with Richard holding the position of current Company Chairman.
Bob retired in 1993 and Trevor Eaton, having worked for the Company from leaving school, took over as Managing Director. In 2002 the Sheffield branch merged with the Chesterfield and Doncaster branches when it moved to its present location on Acres Hill Lane. Our most recent branch to open is at Featherstone, which moved from its original site in Batley. This now gives us total coverage from York, out to the east coast and down the M1 corridor into Leicestershire. Trevor retired in October 2007 whilst in his 41st year with Arden Winch.
The current Managing Director is Steven Barker who has worked in the industry for over 28 years.