Providing an ever expanding range of products for the local construction market.
Over 30 years ago Roy Collier brought together two long standing East Anglian firms to form Collier & Catchpole Limited. Both were family businesses with long histories in the area and a reputation for service and reliability
The Collier family have been associated with the London Road site in Colchester since 1898 when W H Collier (of the Marks Tey brick works) purchased what was Workhouse Fields and began extracting gravel. Collier Bros. Gravel, Lime and Cement Merchants was formed in the early part of the last century and run by W H Collier's two sons. When he died at the age of 80 in 1934 the two parts of the business were separated Ernest taking control of the Brick works and Samuel (Roy Colliers father) continuing the gravel works changing its name to Collier (Stanway) Limited.
Roy Collier joined the business in 1955 running the gravel pit in Villa Road. The pit at London Road had been worked out in 1927, a large section of it was compulsory purchased in the late 1940's and turned into a municipal tip, now the site of Stanway Rovers football ground. In 1963 the business was acquired by St Ives Sand and Gravel of Huntingdon (the London road site was not included in the sale). Roy Collier continued as a director of the company until the early 1970's when it occurred to him that there was an opportunity as a Civil and Heavyside merchant. He thus gave notice to the Amey Roadstone Corporation (who had themselves acquired St Ives) to quit the London Road premises that they were renting from him. In 1974 he purchased E Catchpole & Sons an Ipswich based builders merchant. In 1975 the company began trading as Collier & Catchpole Limited from the London road site and continued trading as E Catchpole from Ipswich.
E Catchpole and Sons was formed in 1824 as a building company, many of the factories and quite a few houses in Ipswich were constructed by Catchpole's. Like Colliers over the years the business had been involved in various activities including clay pipe and brick manufacture. Gradually the company began to establish itself as a builders merchant in Princes Street Ipswich, where it continued to operate after its purchase by Roy Collier. In 1979 Collier & Catchpole purchased an ex concrete pipe works in Wherstead Road and the Ipswich yard relocated to where it can still be found today. The two businesses were amalgamated under the Collier & Catchpole name in 1988 and continued to forge a reputation for having a large range of stock and the service to back it up.
Roy Collier died in 1998 leaving a thriving business with an enviable reputation in the local community. It continues to put customers first closely followed by its loyal and experienced staff. The business continues to be owned and run by the family, with three generations now involved at all levels.
In recent years the company has focused on modernizing its operations with the introduction of state of the art order processing and stock control systems. The purchase of crane equipped lorries of various sizes has allowed it to deliver quickly and efficiently. The development of the London Road site gives it premises that will allow it to continue to service its wide customer base with an ever expanding range of products for the Civil and Building materials market.