Patricia Harte

Chadwicks Group is Ireland's leading builders' merchanting company, operating with over 50 stores and over 1,400 colleagues across the country.  Thanks to our unrivalled knowledge and expertise in the construction sector, we have been part of the fabric of everyday life in Ireland for over 200 years, providing building materials to homes, hotels, farms, transport networks and every other form of business throughout the country. Our story starts in 1818 when Thomas Heiton set up business in Dublin as a coal importer and distributor meeting the needs of the growing city. In the early 1900s the business diversified, adding a sector specialising in iron products, and from the 1960s onwards, additional products such as timber and plumbing products were added. Our Chadwicks business was founded in 1902 by William Thomas Chadwick at Talbot Place, Dublin, to supply builders' merchants and the major building contractors with cement and plaster produced in Ireland and abroad. During this time all deliveries to Chadwicks' customers throughout Dublin City and County were by horse drawn vehicles. In the early days the firm owned three horses and carts, but as business increased they added a fourth horse and cart and employed another driver! In the '50s the business expaned, moving to bigger premises in Walkinstown and adding new lines such as fire clay to its range of building products. Further expansion took place in the '60s and in 1967 the company opened its first branch outside Dublin, in Kilkenny. Today, Chadwicks is Ireland's leading Builders Merchants and Home Improvement Specialist, offering customers a huge range of timber, building materials and home improvement supplies including plumbing and heating products. Chadwicks Group currently operates Chadwicks, Heiton Steel, The Panelling Centre, Telfords, Cork Builders Providers, Proline, Sitetech, Morgans Timber and Davies builders' and plumbers' merchanting businesses in the Republic of Ireland.