Sabah Timber Co Ltd

Sabah Timber Company Limited was registered in 1920 as British Borneo Timber Company Limited, on an agreement between Harrisons and Crosfield Limited and British North Borneo (Chartered) Company. Harrisons and Crosfield Limited transferred the property and assets of China Borneo Company Limited to British Borneo Timber Company Limited. The company received timber cutting licences. Harrisons and Crosfield acted as secretaries and agents for British Borneo Timber Company Limited from 1920.

British Borneo Timber Company Limited supplied logs to Borneo Veneers Limited (established in 1959), which was half owned by British Borneo Timber Company Limited and half by Plywoods Limited.

In 1963 British Borneo Timber Company Limited was renamed Sabah Timber Company Limited. (It already controlled a company named Sabah Timber Company, registered in March 1963. The name of this company was changed in October 1963 to Sabah Trading Company Limited, see CLC/B/112-138). In the same year the name of Borneo Veneers Limited was changed to Sabah Veneers Limited (see CLC/B/112-139).

In 1972/3 Harrisons and Crosfield Limited acquired 50% of the shareholding in Sabah Timber Company Limited which became a subsidiary company. It became a wholly owned subsidiary in 1978.

Sabah Timber Company Limited acquired a number of other timber supplying companies including John Wright and Son (Redditch) Limited in 1969, William T Storer and Company Limited in 1970, Robinson, David and Company in 1969 and Pattinson and Company Limited in 1982.

In 1982 the last logging agreement ended and Sabah Timber Company developed an extensive timber and building supplies network in the UK and Ireland. In 1988 the timber and building supplies operations of Harrisons and Crosfield Limited were consolidated into a single corporate identity: Harcros Timber and Building Supplies Limited.

For historical notes on Sabah Timber Company see CLC/B/112/MS37392.