History of the Company since 1852

Thomas Aitken was born in Greenock in 1822. In 1852 on returning from a period in the Liverpool Timber Trade he acquired, with a Mr Gilmour, the premises of a timber importing business. The new business was called Gilmour & Aitken and traded extensively in hardwoods, mostly to the then booming shipyards of the River Clyde.

The business survived both World wars and the Depression where an analysis of the company's accounts show a halving of the turnover.

After World War II Mr Alexander Cameron Aitken's son Thomas took over the business and expanded it to the point where it was no longer capable of being operated within its one acre yard at Forth Street. In 1970 his two sons Thomas and Cameron took over and started to look for a larger yard.

Accordingly in 1976 new premises were found some 15 miles west of Glasgow at Alexandria, just at the foot of Loch Lomond. The new yard has 17 acres and gives the space necessary for further expansion. New kilns were installed and there are now eleven which can hold up to 50m³ per chamber.

In 1977 Aitken & Howard Ltd was established, which traded exclusively in Greenheart and set the base for further expansion into constructional hardwoods. In 1979 the company set up a home wood mill and its capacity has been greatly added to recently with the addition of an automatic band mill.

A 36" planer has also been installed which enables us to machine hardwood timbers to very precise tolerances for the oil, heavy construction, marine and timber fabrication industries.

Export sales now play an important part in the company's activities. Markets in the Arabian Gulf, Holland, Spain, Ireland and the Caribbean provide outlets for the company's speciality marine products.

In 1992 Aitken & Howard Ltd opened a sales office in Mayfield, East Sussex, to handle the growing demand for marine constructional timbers in the South of England. Also in 1992 to mark the company's commitment to quality, BS5750 Part 2, 1987 was achieved, now ISO 9002, for the importing, machining and supply of timber for marine construction and other uses.