First steel wheelbarrow designed and manufactured by Fred Thacker in his garden shed in Pelsall, West Midlands.

From his factory, Brownhills Sheet Metal, Fred began to manufacture his steel wheelbarrows by hand. 

Les Thacker designs the first pressed pan wheelbarrow, improving quality and manufacturing efficiency.

Les is joined by his wife, Maureen, and sons, Simon and Jonathan, to start The Walsall Wheelbarrow Company Ltd.

Thacker Barrows is aquired by The Walsall Wheelbarrow Company Ltd.

Our first investment in automation – a robotic tube bender. Since then we have gone on to introduce robots and automation across 70% of our manufacturing processes.

Launch of the Phoenix and Ranger wheelbarrows, marking our entry into the HDPE wheelbarrow market and the first HDPE wheelbarrows manufactured in the UK.