R. Durtnell & Sons

R. Durtnell & Sons was an English building company established in 1591 that had been continuously in the same family in Brasted, in the English county of Kent, until 2019 when the firm went out of business. The first building it constructed, Poundsbridge Manor (also called The Picture House), was completed in 1593, and it was the same firm that restored the house following bomb damage in the Second World War.

Poundsbridge Manor

Durtnell family business

Starting in 1591, the firm that became R. Durtnell & Sons Limited had been handed down from father to son as a private company for thirteen generations.[1] It was claimed to be the oldest building firm in Britain.[2][3] According to Dun & Bradstreet, the business information provider, at the time it ceased trading it was "the third oldest company in the UK still in operation" – there were only two older companies in any sector in Britain with a continuous existence: Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press.[4][5] However, conflicting claims have also been made.[6][7]

From about 1570 John Durtnall[lower-alpha 1] had been a "carpenter" (the name for a builder at that time) and master carpenter making timber-frame Wealden houses. He teamed up with his brother Brian to build a house for their father, William. The house, Poundsbridge Manor in Penshurst, Kent, was completed in 1593. Thus he became a housewright, employing carpenters and other craftsmen, purchasing the timber, stone, tiles and other building materials required.[4] The seventh generation owner, Richard (1766 to 1845), is regarded as establishing the modern business. In the ninth generation the owner, also a Richard, set up a formal partnership with his two sons so giving the firm its present name.[5] To mark their quatercentenary, Hugh Barty-King wrote a book about the history of the firm, A country builder: The story of Richard Durtnell & Sons of Brasted 1591–1991.[10]

R. Durtnell & Sons remodelling of Rowhill School, Woodview Campus, in 2011

The business continued at its original location in Brasted, Kent, building luxury houses and doing specialist building, restoration and renovation of historic buildings over the south-east of England for customers such as local authorities, heritage organisations and churches.[2][5][11] In 2014 the firm had a turnover of more than £50 million and more than 130 full-time staff.[4]

In July 2019 the company ceased trading whilst working on a renovation project for the Brighton Corn Exchange.[12][13]

In August 2019, creditors agreed to give the company more time to pay its debts under a debt repayment plan known as a company voluntary agreement (CVA).[14]

Notes
  1. The name was variously spelt "Durtnell, "Durtnall",[5][4] "Darkenoll"[8] or "Dartnoll".[9]

References
  1. "R Durtnell & Sons Limited". R Durtnell website. R Durtnell & Sons. Archived from the original on 13 December 2013. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  2. Bloom, Jonty (26 October 2012). "How Britain's oldest builder survived the recession". BBC. Archived from the original on 5 June 2014. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  3. Price, Chris (29 January 2014). "Britain's oldest builder R Durtnell and Sons from Brasted, near Westerham, appears in BBC Four documentary Hidden Histories". KentOnline, Kent Business. KM Group. Archived from the original on 27 April 2014. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  4. McCooey, Christopher (27 August 2005). "A family business for 400 years". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 26 April 2014. "The builder, based in Brasted, Kent, is the third oldest company in the UK still in operation, according to Dun & Bradstreet, the business information provider. Only Oxford University Press, founded in 1478, and Cambridge University Press, founded in 1534, are older. Number four is the Old Bushmills Distillery in County Antrim (1608) while the Post Office is fifth (1635)".
  5. "Thicker than Mortar". Kent Life. Kent Life. 24 April 2009. Archived from the original on 27 April 2014. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  6. "Top ten oldest UK companies". News. Real Business. 21 April 2008. Archived from the original on 11 December 2013. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  7. Cambieri, Giulia (21 October 2011). "UK's oldest family businesses, a history of longevity". Campden Family Business. Campden Research, Campden Wealth. Archived from the original on 27 April 2014. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
  8. Harper, Charles G. (1906). The Old Inns of Old England, Volume II. London: Chapman and Hall. p. 221. Archived from the original on 27 April 2014.
  9. "Poundsbridge Manor". Domesday Reloaded. BBC. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  10. Barty-King, Hugh (1991). A country builder : the story of Richard Durtnell & Sons of Brasted, 1591–1991. London: Melland. ISBN 978-0907929208.
  11. "First Bobcat Excavator for UK's Oldest Building Company". Global information on the Bulk Materials Handling, Recycling & Quarrying Industries. Hub Digital Media Limited. 20 April 2014. Archived from the original on 27 April 2014. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  12. Bullmore, Harry (2 July 2019). "Corn Exchange development at risk as building company goes bust". The Argus. Archived from the original on 2 July 2019. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  13. "Britain's oldest building firm collapses". BBC News. 4 July 2019. Archived from the original on 4 July 2019. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
  14. Marshall, Jordan (16 August 2019). "Creditor deal brings UK's oldest builder back from brink". Building. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
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