Our Story

WHERE IT ALL BEGAN

Our heritage dates back 30 years when we first started reclaiming and restoring wood floors from our small base in the centre of Warrington.

We started our journey in 1993 after our CEO Robert Walsh, then a 21-year-old graduate, spent a summer restoring reclaimed pine floorboards in his parent’s back garden, and received his first order for 40 square yards for a barn conversion.

In 1995 – from unearthing flooring treasures from Victorian Industrial buildings and selling them fully restored we started experimenting with making wide plank solid wood floors using new European Oak. This was an industry first, as narrow maple strip floors were standard at the time.

HOW WE EVOLVED

We started making new wood floors in 1997, drawing on what we had learnt from reclaiming 18th and 19th century wood floors. These were mostly solid, wide and long Oak floorboards which quickly proved popular with customers.

As a business we pioneered new textures, finishes and designs that would transform our customers’ projects across the UK.

We still incorporate many of the materials and ideas used in our early floors in the floors we make today. We are particularly proud of how natural our floors feel, how well they are made and that so many of our floors are FSC® certified. We believe our attention to every detail and superior specifications make a Ted Todd floor unrivalled.

As Ted Todd went national as we started to develop our network of retail partners, ensuring customers could get help with selection and fitting from a local flooring expert.

As our workshops grew, our ethos remained the same – to create great looking wood floors without compromising on sustainability.

We were determined to ensure these were as sustainably sourced as our reclaimed floors and we became FSC® certified, long before others saw this as a priority. In 1997 we became one of the first companies in Europe to become FSC® certified, and our certification has been renewed successfully every 5 years since. We’ll never charge extra for FSC® or PEFC certification. They come as standard with a Ted Todd floor, and always will.

Design Centre Ted Todd Timeline Illustration 1997

AS WE GREW

In 2005, we took a leap of faith and moved into a manufacturing and distribution centre in Cheshire, which we still call home today. This was shortly followed by the opening of our first Design Centre, for customers to see all our floors on display.

WOODWORKS BY TED TODD

Victorian Woodworks, a world leader in reclaimed and antique wood floors, became part of our family in 2011. As time went on, Victorian Woodworks became Woodworks by Ted Todd, and continues to make the finest antique, reclaimed and handmade new wood floors.

Each Woodworks collection focuses on specific designs that we have developed over the past few decades, using specialist finishing methods to give these floors their sophisticated textures, elegant appearance, durability and longevity.

At the time many new wood floors were quite unimaginative. Most looked like sports hall floors and lacked creativity. At Woodworks we wanted to make new floors that had all the character, story and beauty of older floors, and our customers loved them just as much as we did.

Over a quarter of a century later we are just as dedicated to creating sustainable new wood floors as we are to restoring centuries-old antique floors. We’re equally as passionate about creating the highest quality and most beautiful wood floors possible too.

OUR LONDON DESIGN CENTRE OPENS

After opening our London Design Centre in Mayfair four years previously, we moved to Margaret Street in Fitzrovia, a design hub easily accessible by architects and designers.

Our Design Centres offer customers the chance to come and browse our floors on a large scale. Situated in Cheshire and in the heart of Fitzrovia, you’ll find all our floors on display. You can browse both our stock items and the UK handmade collections and we can also offer appointments to view them privately with your clients if you so wish.

25 YEARS OF TED TODD

In 2018 we celebrate 25 years of creating what we love most – the highest quality wood floors. We’re still a family owned business and our floors are found in the world’s top hotels, retail spaces, residential developments and work spaces.

WOODWORKS GOES INTERNATIONAL

After years of working on projects in North America we launched our Woodworks by Ted Todd brand in the USA. As part of the launch, we exhibited our Rare Finds at both the Architectural Digest Design Show in New York and the Kitchen Bathroom Industry Show in Las Vegas.

WHERE WE ARE NOW

We believe an investment in the best quality real wood floor will add value to any project. We offer floors in every format, tone, thickness and finish, including more FSC® and PEFC certified products than any other wood floor company. Our floors are built to last a lifetime and our confidence in them is reflected in our minimum 20-year guarantee.

Now more than ever, creating safety and sanctuary in homes and shared spaces can be achieved with conscious choices, allowing us to enhance our connection with nature and improving health and wellbeing from the ground up.

If you’re looking to make a healthy choice for a great-looking, well made, sustainable floor that lasts, we’re looking forward to working with you.

WHAT’S NEXT

At Ted Todd we adopt a can-do attitude. We are ready to experiment, push boundaries, invent, try, and find a way to get where we want to be.

We aim to go the extra mile for our customers and will continue to find ways to offer our clients more options and provide creative wood flooring solutions for the most complex projects.

We’ll continue to explore new product ideas, and lead through innovation. Sustainability remains at the core of everything we do. 90% of our product offering is officially certified by either FSC® or PEFC and we are working hard to get it to 100%.

Awards and nominations