A Hill & Sons Ltd

We are delighted to announce that 2010 is the 90th year of operation for A Hill and Sons.

Established in 1920 A Hill and Sons have been through various stages to current date where they are a reliablewholesale supplier to hundreds of companies and public bodies countrywide.

Over the many years ofoperation A Hill and Sons has constantly adapted to the market, changingbusiness model many times. They have grown and supplied vast and differingranges of trees, plants, vegetables and fruits to both residents andbusinesses.

The story of A Hill and Sons isrich in history, below are some of the key milestones

• In 1920 Alan Hill founded hisfledgling company A Hill (Nurseryman). He started growing flowers andvegetables on an allotment in Loftus selling his produce directly to the retailmarket. This then was the humble beginnings of A Hill & Sons.

• Alan bought Woodlands Nurseryand shortly afterwards his two eldest sons Alan (junior) and Cornelius joinedhim. The name of the company changed to A Hill & Sons.

• During the war yearsproduction was turned entirely to producing food for the war effort.

• In 1945, after the conflict,Keith (the 3rd son) joined the company and shortly afterwards in 1946 bought 35acres in Stokesley, naming it Station Nurseries.

• At the time of Alan(seniors)retirement in 1954 things were very different from the small beginnings atLoftus. Woodlands Nursery was beginning to develop and with 35 acres of land atStation Nurseries and 10 acres rented at Marsk, production had changed emphasisfrom growing food for the war to flowers and ornamental plants for the retailmarket. The company had two retail outlets in Saltburn and Redcar and employed19 staff at this point.

• In 1959 Alan’s son Johnjoined the company followed in 1960 by Cornelius’s son David.

• In the early 1960’s theacreage of glass was increased at Woodlands Nursery to two acres using thisexpansion to grow chrysanthemum blooms for the wholesale markets. The companyat this time grew 30,000 blooms at Woodlands Nurseries, 60,000 blooms atStation Nurseries and 140,000 blooms under cover in heated glass at WoodlandsNurseries. Its interesting to think all these blooms were cut by hand with apen knife!

• In 1976 the family businessreached a cross road when the brothers retired, the business was split up andsold. David Hill (the third generation) took sole charge of A Hill & Sonsbased at Station Nurseries. Decisions had to be made and David decided toconcentrate on two main crops Strawberries and Nursery Stock.

• In 1989 Julian joined thecompany and in 1999 Simon also joined (sons of David). This forth generation ofthe family had their own, new, ideas. To concentrate solely on wholesale HardyNursery Stock a decision was made to stop growing Strawberries. A Hill &Sons became a limited company at this time.

• There followed a rapidexpansion of the business bringing new innovation and ideas, for example AirPots were trialled for growing trees which grew in such demand from our firsttrial of 30 trees to 9,000 over the space of 4 years. A range of mature shrubsgrowing in Air Pots was introduced in 2007/8 and also proved very popular.

• The latest development haveincluded a cash and carry site and online retail store over 2009 and 2010.