| In 1889 Harry
H. Gill (1865-1923) founded the company
in Newcastle upon Tyne. His philosophy was “to
cultivate a high class trade who preferred quality
to quantity”. He was soon joined by his younger
brother Stanley Gill who spent
two years in Sweden learning the language and everything
about sawmilling. Copies of early contracts that
trade was soon established throughout the UK in
a wide range of timbers from the Nordic countries
and also show that the company was heavily involved
in the supply of timber to the coal mining industry.
In 1923 Frank Leake (1888-1965)
joined the board of Harry H Gill & Bro, becoming
Managing Director in 1948. He brought with him
years of experience of trading in Scandinavia
and went on to hold high office in many Timber
Trade Associations.
In 1935 James (Jim) Robinson
(1915-1984) Frank Leake’s nephew and father
of Ian Robinson the current Chairman and Managing
Director, joined the company. He travelled extensively
in Sweden and Finland becoming fluent in both
languages, even broadcasting in Finnish on the
BBC European Service. In 1940 he was British Vice
Consul in Rovaniemi in Finnish Lapland before
returning to the UK to take up office with Timber
Control. He rejoined the company in 1951.
1938 saw Stanley H. Gill (1921-2003)
nephew of the original Stanley Gill, join the
company. After a distinguished war career, he
travelled in Sweden and Finland in the immediate
post war years learning the trade. In 1965 he
formed a partnership with Jim Robinson. He became
a respected Arbitrator and remained a consultant
to the current G&R team long after his retirement
in 1984.
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