Simmonds Lumber started its base of operation in the early 1980s by Kevin Simmonds in Australia. In 1993, the business was bought by a Black family-controlled company. Simmonds Lumber was at that time was located in a small yard in the residential area of Pennant Hills and was primarily involved in the importation of Radiata out of New Zealand for the local Sydney domestic housing market.
Due to the volatility of this market and plans to expand the base of operations it was decided in 1985 to relocate the business to a warehouse operation in Meadowbank, which firstly enabled the company to become involved in the distribution of Medium Density Fibreboard (commonly known as MDF) and secondly, following the acquisition of the Amplex business, in sawn and dressed hardwoods out of South East Asia.
The company's turnover and personnel continued to grow throughout the next two years until, in 1987, the decision was made to relocate to a property that would offer a far greater opportunity for outside storage, undercover warehousing and larger office premises. The criteria set down for the proposed site certainly did not make location an easy task, however, after some 6 months of property search the company signed off on a lease for a 4 acre site in Bennelong Road, Homebush Bay.
This site allowed the company to expand and develop many of the products Simmonds envisaged would be marketing strengths for the future, such as products that are still sold today:
- A WIDE RANGE OF SAWN AND PRE-FINISHED PRODUCTS OUT OF SOUTH EAST ASIA
- A COMPREHENSIVE RANGE OF PANEL PRODUCTS, WHICH INCLUDE PLYWOOD & MDF
- OVERLAY PANELS & VENEERED BOARD
- WESTERN RED CEDAR " DOUGLAS FIR
- TREATED RADIATA
- FURNITURE GRADE RADIATA
- RADIATA SCANTLINGS
- LOCAL HARDWOODS & ENGINEERED PRODUCTS
In 1994, the word was out that Homebush was to become the preferred option for the Olympic Games in 2000. We saw this not only as a disruption to our day to day business, but we were also concerned as to how secure our tenure was going to be as development of the Games site gained momentum. So on the property trail again, this time with a different set of criteria, the principle being to this time purchase a property Simmonds could call a permanent home and owned outright.
Six months later negotiations were concluded on a 6-acre site at number one Durham Street Rosehill. After allowing the existing tenants some 12 months extra occupancy, the House Of Simmonds was officially opened by the Mayor of Parramatta, the Honourable Paul Garrard, on the 12th of July 1996 and was attended by some 120 company and industry guests.
Today the Simmonds Group of Companies under the chairmanship of Mr Humphry Rolleston, the Board of Directors Mr Graeme Black, and Mr Geoff Joyce, and the current CEO Mr Paul Elsmore who started in 1985 operates across the entire Eastern Seaboard of Australia, with offices in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland in New Zealand.
The group's product range covers the full requirements of the Australian domestic housing industry and is procured through longstanding agency agreements with a number of Major Timber Producers throughout the World. such as Carter Holt Harvey, Parkside, Ifura and Seng Fong name but a few.
We at Simmonds firmly believe in our commitment to the future. This is why we are the first company in the world to use DNA testing to certify the provenance of some of our timber (see News section). This is a recent example of our constant objective to remain sustainably competitive both in our day to day workload and the development of leading edge technology. The Simmonds Group will continue to invest considerable time and funds to ensure that our business to business (B2B) strategies offer leading edge technology that will continue to support our growth in tandem with our supply chain and customer base.
Many things have changed in the life of Simmonds in the past two decades. One thing that has not changed is our company motto:
Simply The Best!