Our heritage
Tim's Story
Our story
Our story
Nestled in the rural countryside of Herefordshire, Oakwrights has operated nationwide and abroad since 1999.
Like an acorn to an oak, we have grown from six employees to 147 during the past 25 years. We are now established as one of the leading oak frame building companies in the UK. While we strive to improve efficiencies by investing in advanced technologies and continual staff development, we remain true to our roots as a family-focused passionate company.
Our heritage and vision for the future
Our heritage and vision for the future
Our story
1999
Oakwrights’ story begins
Our story begins as Nick Price joins Tim Crump with the idea of setting up an oak frame house building company.
2000
Investing in our architectural practice
Terry Rutty is appointed as our first Architectural Designer. We invest in 3D CAD software to help bring the architectural design process to life for our customers.
2001
The Lakes
The Lakes: Operations are moved to Tim’s childhood home in Swainshill, Herefordshire. The house is converted into office space and the first Oakwrights workshop is constructed. A 100ft x 40ft space is created with an overhead crane to make the movement of oak easier.
2002
Building on our solid foundation
We invest in a Hundegger K2 CNC joinery machine, the first of its kind to be brought into the UK. We also add four Dietrich’s software packages to produce the machine files to run the K2.
Darren Blackwell joins as an architectural designer, expanding our design team.
2003
Bill Keir joins as general manager. Bill was one of the original early carpenters who helped to re-introduce oak frame carpentry into the UK. He also brought a tremendous depth of knowledge to the team from working on and directing some of the UK’s most prestigious oak frame projects.
Pete Tonks and John Williams further strengthen the architectural team, adding their individual styles and character to our designs.
2005
We start renovating a two-storey old barn next to the main office. This gives us additional space for the growing design team and allows us to create a training programme, so we can recruit two new trainee frame designers each year.
2006
Roland Horwood is appointed as frame design manager and implements the oak frame designer training programme.
We gain a full patent for our 3i infill panel system, along with TRADA certification, which means the traditional panels can be used on NHBC projects.
2007
Our show home, The Woodhouse opens its doors, allowing clients to experience an oak frame first hand.
We begin creating a new larger machine workshop on an adjacent site to the main office, to meet growing demand. This allows two 80ft overhead cranes to be installed for lifting and moving, making production more efficient.
A new Hundegger K2i beam processing machine is also commissioned.
2008
We win the Homebuilding & Renovating ‘Daily Telegraph Award’ for Best Traditional Design for a house in Norfolk. We also win the Sussex Heritage Trust award for our Richard Hope project.
2009
We appoint our first lead panel designer to create a dedicated team to manage panel design.
2010
Our 3i panel system gains industry recognition at the Homebuilding & Renovating Self Build and Product Innovation Awards, taking top spot in the construction systems category.
2011
Our new framing workshop is complete. This is to carry out all carpentry operations and dry fitting oak frames. We install four 40ft overhead cranes, to help move oak around easily, and six dedicated framing stations to increase efficiency.
2012
We install two Weinmann butterfly turning tables to enable the clamping, squaring and build of 8m x 3m composite panels to enclose our oak frames. We also launch our new panel systems: WrightWall (wall/roof) and WrightWall Natural (wall/roof).
Our oak framing apprenticeship scheme has its first intake of carpenters.
2013
We complete a commercial project. Cams Mill, a Fullers pub and restaurant, sits on the site of an old tidal mill in Fareham.
2014
We complete our largest and most challenging commercial project. Pavilion One is a contemporary building that houses a Costa Coffee shop at the entrance of the old livestock development in Hereford.
We appoint a Building Regulations specialist and Certified PassivHaus Consultant.
Iain Hendry is appointed to respond to our growing presence in Scotland.
2015
Helen Needham is appointed as our first in-house Architect and Architectural Team Manager.
2016
We launch Oakwrights, GreenRooms division to respond to the growing demand for the design and construction of oak framed extensions.
Our ‘Oak Frame Homes’ book is published, to inspire anyone planning to build an oak frame home.
2017
The Oakwrights Portfolio is published, to inspire and assist clients selecting features for their own builds.
2018
We launch our full turnkey offering, in response to the increasing demand for a full build service, and our custom build offering, which allows us to offer a dedicated service to small developers and landowners.
We begin building a larger workshop to house our softwood production equipment and panel making. The additional office space allows our frame design, projects and architectural design teams to work under one roof, which makes communication much more efficient.
2019
We turn 20 years old and rebrand to help strengthen our position in the marketplace.
2021
After nine years of working with Oakwrights, Charlie Mills is announced as our new Managing Director. Charlie joined Oakwrights in 2012 and since then has worked alongside all departments, before managing our Outbuildings and Extensions division. Now, Charlie is excited to drive Oakwrights forwards, while Tim Crump takes up the role of Chairman.
Passivhaus certification achieved for the UK’s second oak frame home and the first oak frame Bed and Breakfast in Worcestershire. This was an in-house project where our teams worked with our clients from the initial design stage, through the planning application process, to the momentous day when their bespoke oak frame and Natural encapsulation system was erected on-site, meeting the rigorous Passivhaus building standards. Please click here to read our clients’ amazing self-build journey.
2024
We celebrate 25 years
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