Following an eventful year, the timber merchant went into administration on 18 November.

The company, which began as a small coal and wood merchant in Glastonbury back in the 1800’s, had been bought by Bradfords in 1988.

In 2018, the company embarked on a review of its operations, which resulted in the closure of its Dudley distribution centre, and the start of a regeneration programme of £500,000 began at its Mansfield distribution centre.

In March 2019, however, Snows became independent again, following a management buyout.

As part of the change of ownership, the Glastonbury head office and distribution centre were sold to Sydenham’s in February 2019. The sale agreement stipulated that Snows could not trade in Devon, Cornwall and Somerset for a period of 12 months, starting on 1 March.

The National Sales Office in Towcester then became the new head office for the company, which also has a third site in Andover, Hampshire.

At the time, Managing Director Ian Church, who led the buyout, said, “This is great news for us and for Snows’ customers. It enables us to create a truly agile business and to continue investing in the areas that really need it.

“In our customer service proposition, we aim to be the very best in our sector. What excites us the most is the fact we are now truly independent.”

In August, Snows had entered into a partnership with US manufacturer AZEK Building Products. The partnership saw the introduction of the TimberTech® capped composite decking brand to the Snows Timber range.

Matt Haw and Matt Wild from RSM Restructuring have been appointed administrators for the company.