History

Early History

Since 1958, when the James family built one of the first supermarkets in England , an association with the building industry has been maintained.  

Errol James studied as a structural engineer in Cheltenham College to expand on a love for all aspects of design & construction. He continued building houses in Gloucester and together with his wife Elsie also expanded the family grocery business. They opened a popular café, which was often visited by the touring headline artist of the time, such as the Rolling Stones and The Who. They also found time to run a youth group, in the local Brockworth area. This support continues today with helping to provide a positive focus for local Bayswater youth through supporting the Bayswater Junior Football Club.

Land of Opportunity

In 1966, Garrie was born. This changed priorities for the family. Australia – the land of opportunity beckoned. In 1968, they emigrated on the “Fairsea”.

The James family settled in Boronia, which was then all unmade roads and gum trees and begun the journey towards the great Australian dream.

Building in the Suburbs

The tradition of family business began with Suburban Landscaping which established many gardens in the suburbs of Melbourne . House building continued with E James Constructions through the seventies, building 100s of quality homes throughout the eastern suburbs. In the mid seventies, he also completed a restoration and renovation of the famous Salisbury House in Upper Beaconsfield .

In the 1980’s, he expanded on his building business into home improvements and renovations. He started a window replacement business and became “The Window Man”. He very quickly became one the largest window replacement business in Victoria , setting up a window manufacturing business to maintain quality and price, and meet the demand.

Out of the Ashes

In 1989 &1990, with interest rates reaching record levels, we had “the recession we had to have”.  The combined businesses went from a multi-million dollar turnover to tens of thousands. Something had to give! Thanks Mr Keating! From the debris an idea sprouted. Errol took over the remnants of a trellis making business. It grew to the point where, his son Garrie joined the business.

In 1992, the whole family rallied together to form Trellis Wholesalers. The main products were trellis and lattice for the wholesale market. We serviced large hardware chains such as BBC Hardware, and many smaller garden yards. We sold factory seconds from the yard at 868 Mountain Hwy Bayswater, to the general public. We were often asked for timber, for which we would send our customers to a local timber yard we supplied. We were sending an increasing number of customers away, so we decided it was time to stock some timber. In a short time, retail timber sales were outstripping wholesale lattice sales. We identified that treated pine timber sales were our future.

 Old timber racks at Mountain Hwy circa 1993.

What’s in a Name

In dealing with the major timber mills, we had access to a cheap, readily available source of timber for our production. We also purchased a variety of other timber sizes for sale in our yard. Eventually we were selling more timber than lattice. Many customers would get confused when we answer the phone as “Trellis Wholesalers”. The name suggested we were only wholesale or only sold trellis. Garrie and Errol did some brainstorming.

 Garrie thinking.

“What do we sell?”

“Treated pine, decking, fencing, sleepers & fencing”

“Where is it used?”

“Outside”

“No indoor timber at all?

“No”

“So, we sell outside use timber?

“Yep”

“How about Outside Timber Supplies”

“No, sounds silly!”

“Hey, how about Outdoor Timber”

“That’s great, what about fencing?”

“OK, Outdoor Timber & Fencing”

“What about Trellis Wholesalers?”

“OK, TW Outdoor Timber & Fencing”

In 1996, we started answering the phone as Outdoor Timber & Fencing. In 1998, we registered the name TW Outdoor Timber & Fencing, the “TW” representing a link to Trellis Wholesalers. We dropped the “TW” in 1999 to trade as Outdoor Timber & Fencing. Our name says it all!

We stand by what we sell because, what we sell is who we are.

 Errol standing next to what we sell. Ha, ha. We sold the truck too.

Corporate logos & branding

Our old logo incorporated in a letterhead

The “TW” represents Trellis Wholesalers. The trellis background represents our formation to make trellis and lattice.

Our New logo

J       The circle background represents the renewable source of our materials. It is also represents a saw log end section..

J       The fluted board represents our old fashioned values. It also represents a piece of sawn timber.

J       The word “Outdoor” is prominent, stressing the nature of our products and brand name

Growth to Meet Demand

We were making waves in the lattice market by offering better products at a cheaper price. To maintain margins, we had to break into the chain of production to cut costs. At first, we would buy the lattice laths (timber slats) in pack lots already treated. We then bought timber directly from the mills and sent it out to get ripped into lath, and then treated. To cut costs further again, we began ripping the timber ourselves and sending it out to get treated.

 Ripping lattice lath

We established a recovery sawmill at 180 Canterbury Rd Bayswater. We would receive pine logs from tree fellers that otherwise become firewood or landfill. One Norfolk Island Pine Tree we recovered was planted in Surrey Hills by Dame Nellie Melba, as a teenager. Some of these trees were up to 120 years old and 4 foot diameter. We cut these up with a portable bush mill into sizes suitable for production or for retail timber sales. At one stage we had over 4 acres of logs waiting for processing.

 Kevin from Wrigglers Worm Farms & Garrie sprung with a ciggie & beer in hand.

We began sending our cut timber to a local treatment plant, but found that our volume of work was too great for their production capacity. We agreed to become a major customer of CCA Pine in their new treatment plant in Kilsyth. We then found, again that our demands were too strong and identified the need to set up our own CCA treatment plant.

In 1998, we decided to close the Mountain Hwy yard and combined operations at 180 Canterbury Rd. We found that the increased exposure increased our sales. We were right down the road from BBC Hardwarehouse selling similar timber at 30-40% cheaper prices, of course many customers realised this and bought from us instead.

 Front View – 180 Canterbury Rd Bayswater

Our Own Treatment Plant

We began construction of our CCA Treatment Plant to service our growing needs.

Slab goes down, tanks are in place.

construction of building.

In 1998, we commenced operations of our new CCA treatment plant and extended our price cutting philosophy into doing custom treatment for other customers at a cheaper rate. We work on the maxim of price, product, consistency & volume. Within a year the treatment plant business had more turn-over in a year than 3 years of the lattice business.

 Busy at work

We expanded into selling treated timber to the wholesale market. We would buy in raw timber and treat to specifications. We identified that fencing and sleeper markets were key growth areas. We eventually bought our own wood processing equipment to cut overheads.

Production Facilities

We now reprocess timber from all over southern Australia .  We have numerous machines performing different functions. We manufacture palings for a large part of the Melbourne fencing market. We also supply fence rails and sleepers. We are in the process of automating some of the processes to help eliminate physical work, reduce risk of injury, increase productivity and provide a more consistent quality of product. We have gained significant savings and pass this on through cheaper prices to all our customers. We also have a profit sharing scheme for all our employees.

The Future

               We will be expanding our wood processing business, incorporating modern technology to meet old fashioned needs.

                       We will maintain our commitment to cutting our costs to the bone and passing savings on to our customers.

                       We will ensure all staff members are kept up to date through in-house and external industry training programs.

 Forklift training

                       We will continue to reward our employees’ productivity through innovative incentive programs.

                       We will strive to achieve an accident free workplace and proactively improve safety for all staff and customers.

                       We will continue to ensure that we promote environmentally friendly solutions to all our consumers’ needs.

                       We will continue to support junior sport in our local area.