Introduction
Still family run and currently celebrating 121 years in business, Daltons Wadkin are leading suppliers and manufacturers of industrial machinery for processing a wide range of materials including solid wood and wood based panels, composites, plastics, non-ferrous metals and more.
Having established sole distributorships with many high profile European manufacturers the company offer the latest concepts in machine design and technology in addition to established classical ranges.
Daltons Wadkin also manufacture the Wadkin range of classical woodworking equipment including crosscuts, bandsaws, mortisers, resaws and sawbenches as well as the specialist range of high precision Phillipson sanders.
Clients include national timber supply and manufacturing companies, public authorities, educational establishments, ministry departments and the automotive and aerospace industries.
Operating from purpose built premises on the edge of Nottingham with extensive showroom facilities the company offers both new and used equipment with working demonstrations. Dedicated engineering workshops are utilised for rebuilding and servicing machines for supply to both home and overseas markets.
In addition to machine supply, Daltons Wadkin offer world class support services, including certified operator training, maintenance contracts, breakdown assistance, LEV testing, spare parts and tooling
Accreditation
Customers can be assured of our ongoing commitment to quality and service at all times. Daltons Wadkin operate ISO9001 quality management system and PIAB quality assured training as well as being Safe Contractor approved and a member of the Woodworking Machinery Suppliers Association.
History
Founded in 1901 Daltons Wadkin are firmly established at the forefront of the woodworking machine supply industry. Now under the control of the third and fourth generation of fourth generation family members. Alex Dalton (pictured above with his late Uncle Francis) is the great grandson of the founder.
Situated in Nottingham at the centre of the country and adjacent to motorway and rail links, the purpose built 20,000 sq ft factory showroom provides an unrivalled setting for the viewing and demonstration of an extensive range of new and used woodworking machinery.
An Engineering Heritage
The death of Queen Victoria in 1901 marked the end of an era and the start of the modern industrial age. Arthur Lowe Dalton recognised the new world of opportunity and started the engineering company that still bears his name a century later.
Today, Daltons Wadkin are regarded in the UK and worldwide as one of the leading suppliers of woodworking machinery. The modern business world is light years away from that of Arthur Dalton, but the company founder would identify with the standards of excellence and quality that remain the key to firms success.
A century of trading has seen Daltons Wadkin survive and prosper despite two World Wars, economic depression, an era of boom and bust, and the downturn in the British manufacturing industry. Credit for the early strength of the company goes to Cyril and Vernon Dalton, the founders sons, who ran the business from the early 1920’s.
In those early years, woodworking machinery was sold alongside stationary diesel oil and petrol/ paraffin engines, electric motors and electric generating plants. A newspaper article of the time quoted the brothers as offering ‘anything from a bench-trimmer to a four-cutter, a 0.5 h.p. to a 100 h.p motor, or a 1 h.p. petrol engine to a 500 h.p. crude oil unit.’
Increasing mechanisation and demand saw Daltons Wadkin developing the woodworking machinery sector and carving a reputation for rebuilding quality machinery for sawing, planing, moulding, turning and sanding etc.
In the post war 1950’s, the company forged links with Wadkin, when in 1957 they were appointed the first stockist for the Leicester based manufacturer. Following financial difficulties at Wadkin in the early part of this century Daltons (as it was then called) purchased the intellectual property rights to Wadkin and the names combined into today’s trading name Daltons Wadkin.
Today, Daltons Wadkin continues trading from a Nottingham base, but has come a long way since those early years on Canal Street. The classical range of Wadkin working machines are still manufactured to the exacting standards with which the name is synonymous. In addition, the Phillipson range of high precision sanders are also manufactured by Daltons Wadkin.
Nigel Dalton was joint owner and Director of Daltons Wadkin for over 45 years before his untimely death in 2009. Nigel was involved in all aspects from sales to service, he was, when necessary, a ‘hands on’ practical person who took a special pride in ensuring that the company offered the very best in aftercare, transport, machine moving and installation.
Well known in the woodworking machinery sector, he and his brother Francis were the third generation to enter the family business of A L Dalton Ltd in Nottingham.
The 1970’s proved the key period for driving Daltons Wadkin into a new era of growth. 1971 saw the company pioneering the promotion of rebuilt woodworking machinery at national exhibition level when they exhibited at the Building Trades Exhibition at Olympia.
In 1974, Daltons moved from Canal Street to new purpose built premises at Crossgate Drive. The building provides an unrivalled setting for the display and demonstration of an extensive range of both new and previously owned machinery.
Visitors are often unprepared for the extent and quality of the equipment available. New machines from blue riband manufacturers such as Altendorf, CEHISA, Elcon, Kuper, Salvador, Stenner and Wadkin bear witness to the company’s commitment to quality. Fully automatic gantry cranes provide the modern handling solution, and visitors can see for themselves the team of highly skilled fitters, engineers and electricians at work whose skills ensure every machine leaving the premises bears the Daltons Wadkin stamp of quality.
In fact, nowhere is Daltons Wadkin 119 years of engineering heritage more evident than in the supply of previously owned and rebuilt machines. It was in this sector that the true foundations of the company were laid by A L Dalton.
Many seek to emulate but few can match the standard
Arthur Lowe Dalton
Travel the globe and discover just how far Daltons Wadkin roots have spread from Nottingham. Export success in recent years has seen particular demand from Asia, India and the Middle East and with activity spreading across Africa, Australasia, South America and the newly developing countries of Eastern Europe.
Extensive manufacturing facilities produce the Wadkin range of woodworking machines and Phillipson range of sanding machines.
The Future
Arthur Lowe Dalton founded the company in the same year as Marconi’s first trans- atlantic message and Britain’s first submarine was launched. Today Daltons Wadkin span the generations by offering the very latest technology for solid wood, panel and composite processing, backed up by old fashioned standards of service, while anticipating and providing for the needs of customers well into the next 100 years.
