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There are two local companies which have formed the bedrock onto which ATF was built, namely King & Company and Crossley Builders’ Merchants. Sadly, neither of them trades today.

Graham, Ted (our Financial Director) and our late colleague, John Harrison, all started their careers with Crossleys and, its life, began back in 1847 and grew from that of a local brick maker and merchant to become one of the country’s largest and most respected builders’ merchants. Most of its branches trade today as Jewson.

Kevin, John, Tony and Andy were all working together in the late 80s and early 90s at King & Company. King & Company’s history goes all the way back to 1744 when it was a renowned merchant in Hull. With Kevin heading the business’s Teesside operation and John its MD, Kings grew across our region with a network of branches from Hull in the South to Glasgow in the North. The business was sold in 1999 and, sadly, today is no more. But the team still work together some 30 years on and, perhaps surprisingly, are all still friends. Put them in a room together and they’ll still be recounting stories hours later. A rich history indeed.