Our History

Established in 1909, when Percy W Stephenson opened a hardware store in Darlington, County Durham, the company epitomised the entrepreneurial drive of so many Northern family businesses of the era. Historically, Darlington was one of the most important towns in the UK for engineering, railways, manufacturing and joinery, and served as a vital transport link with the rest of the country, so the business was very well positioned.

Percy W Stephenson & Son continued operating uninterrupted through two world wars, and as demand grew, the business branched into ceramics, architectural ironmongery and joinery services, which eventually led to the supply of kitchen componentry and furniture to the trade. This soon became our main enterprise, which led to the opening of a new arm of the business, PWS Distributors Ltd in the 1980s.

As one of the largest kitchen component suppliers to a burgeoning kitchen trade, partnerships were established with the best product manufacturers in the world, particularly in Europe. Exciting new materials and colours were driving the market, influenced by interior designers and stylists, and with this came opportunities. The Danesmoor Agency grew out of PWS Distributors under Mark Stephenson (current group CEO and great, grandson of Percy Stephenson) and eventually became an independent division, providing specialist buying and marketing services to manufacturers, suppliers and the trade.