History
In the late 1800s, having served as an apprentice ironmonger in Canterbury, Frederick Henry Brundle arrived in
At the age of 31, with the courtesy of a small loan from his father, F.H. Brundle opened the doors of his business. The original premises were in the city of London, in the Ward of Cripplegate Without; the site of the Barbican today. As the business expanded, it became necessary to move to larger premises, although it still remained in the Paper Street area of EC1.
Frederick retired in the early 1920s and his eldest son, Frank Walter Brundle (pictured), took over the reins. By 1928, Frank had acquired three 5 tonne lorries and two 1½ tonne horse-drawn vans. Frank managed the company until he retired in 1960.
Frederick Frank Brundle, representing the third generation of the family, entered the business in 1935, after spending six months in Belgium at a steel and wire nail works. The war years interrupted his career in the company and he re-joined later in partnership with Charles Henry, Frank’s youngest brother. Charles retired in 1960. Frederick retired in 1984.
During the blitz of 1940, the Paper Street premises were completely destroyed, and the company was forced to relocate into temporary accommodation, on the borders of Islington and Hackney, where they remained for fifty years.
Richard Frank Brundle MBE, joined the business in 1956 and worked in the business for 60 years. After Frederick retired in 1984, Richard assumed sole control.
Richard Frank Brundle MBE, joined the business in 1956 and worked in the business for 60 years. After Frederick retired in 1984, Richard assumed sole control.
In June 2000, F.H. Brundle entered the world wide web, launching www.fhbrundle.co.uk, with their first ecommerce site launching in 2009.
The Head Office relocated to Lamson Road, Rainham, due to Stratford being redeveloped for the Olympics in 2012, where it is still based today.
F.H. Brundle opened a central distribution centre in Burton-on-Trent. This 200,000 square feet of warehousing provides the business with the capability to re-supply the network's branches, allowing F.H. Brundle to fulfil the company’s promise that “any customer should be able to receive the products they want, in the quantities required, to an agreed time frame”.
Construction began on an extension to the Burton premises, to provide another 70,000 sq/ft of warehousing space.
Today, with over 10,000 stocked products, and a fleet of over 70 lorries and vans, F.H. Brundle can proudly claim to be the leading trade supplier in their product ranges - while still maintaining those traditional values first established back in 1889.
