Australian timber company, Briggs Veneers, are pleased to announce their hundredth anniversary. Read this brief history of the family-owned company.
July 7th, 2008
The Briggs group was started in 1908 by George Largie Briggs, the great-grandfather of the current generation of the Briggs family.
This business was a sawmill, built at Dorrigo in northern NSW, which was replaced by a mill built at nearby Megan in 1915. In 1923 the company built a village and sawmill several miles away at Briggsvale, where veneer milling commenced in 1933. At this time, the village reached a peak of 150 residents.
Under the leadership of George Largie’s grandson, John Largie Briggs, the timber and veneer business grew and prospered throughout the 1950’s, 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. In 1960 Allen Broome started at Briggs Veneers’ Sydney office, developing the veneer sales, merchandising and import business.
During the 1970’s and 1980’s Briggs pioneered the production of regrowth sustainable eucalypt veneers and plywood products (to replace rainforest species), and by 1983 demand had grown to the point where a new plywood factory was added. Unfortunately, the Briggsvale milling operation ceased forever in 1993, due to the mill being destroyed by arson, and the village has since become a ghost town.
Despite this setback, the veneer merchandising section of the business, Briggs Veneers, continued to pursue innovation and quality, and now offers more than 150 local and imported sustainable veneers. Products include the TrueGrain reconstituted veneers and eco-cert FSC, AFS and GECA environmentally certified veneers. Recent projects in these veneers include the supply of eco-cert European Oak – GECA & FSC certified for Bovis Lend Lease’s new Melbourne offices (a 6 Star Green Star project.)
Exciting recent and upcoming new product releases include TrueGrain Natural veneers (made from Australian species), and Briggs Veneers is the first Australian company to offer FSC certified reconstituted veneers (in the TrueGrain range). We also continue to offer, of course, the traditional veneers such as Blackbutt, Spotted Gum, American Walnut, White Oak and American Walnut plus the more exotic veneers, such as Burls and Quilted Maple.
In May this year, Rob Mayo joined our architectural sales team. Rob, who many architects and designers would already know, brings many years of experience in veneers to our business and we warmly welcome him.
Based at Wetherill Park in NSW, Briggs Veneers supplies markets throughout Australia, New Zealand and overseas. We wish to thank our customers, architects and designers for their continuing support over the years, and hope we can continue to bring everyone, in the years to come, the same genuine high-quality service and products.
Information courtesy of Juel Briggs, Director and Architectural Sales, Briggs Veneers Pty Ltd.
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