Sample Basket My Account Menu 1881-1945 In the beginning when it all started. 1881 Frank Gaunt Senior born. 1897 Frank Gaunt Senior becomes apprentice joiner and cabinet maker to George Taylor. 1907 George Taylor dies. The business becomes Haigh & Gaunt Joiners. 1909 Haigh & Gaunt partnership dissolved. Frank Gaunt - joiners, undertakers and cabinet makers established in the village of Shelley, 6 miles south of Huddersfield. 1914-1918 During the 1st world war the business manufactured ammunition boxes as well as continuing in the joinery and undertaking trades. 1919 The business moves to larger premises located at 150, Penistone Road, Shelley. 1932 The business expands employing up to 20 joiners with many contracts with local textile mills maintaining buildings and machinery. 1937 Frank Gaunt Jnr joins his father in the business at age 16. 1939 Frank Gaunt Jnr enlists in the army and serves until 1946. 1945 Trevor Metcalfe, aged 14, becomes apprentice joiner to Frank Gaunt. 1946 Business is renamed Frank Gaunt & Son. 1952 A second premises is bought, Brook Street, Huddersfield, which is used solely to manufacture coffins under the trade name Huddersfield Funeral Supplies. 1954 Trevor Metcalfe returns from National Service to become sales representative for Huddersfield Funeral Supplies, moving on to become General Manager. 1956 Huddersfield Funeral Supplies moves to larger premises at Viaduct Street, Huddersfield. 1964 New purpose built factory opens at Crosland Road, Huddersfield. Business incorporates into a Limited company—Funeral Supplies (Huddersfield) Limited—with Trevor Metcalfe becoming a shareholding director. Further investment sees the installation of a multi—daylight veneering press. 1967-1989 A great partnership for the future 1967 Stephen Gaunt (Son of Frank Gaunt Jnr) joins the business. 1968 Frank Gaunt Snr passes away. 1971 Installation of the first synthetic veneer laminating line to press PVC foils. 1972 Introduction of trade name, Decorative Panels, under which laminated board materials are supplied to the furniture and allied industries. 1973 Lamination commences of the first heavy weight post impregnated paper foils by Decorative Panels. 1975 Short cycle through feed press added to existing roller laminating line. 1979 Christopher Gaunt joins the business. 1980 Flat Pack furniture business, Astra Pack, started in Wigan, Lancashire. 1982 Guy Metcalfe joins the business working at Astra Pack. 1985 First Hymmen hot roll laminating line installed in Huddersfield giving huge increase in output and improvement of quality. 1985 The manufacture of component parts begins. 1987 Astra Pack Furniture sold to management. Guy Metcalfe returns to Huddersfield as Sales Manager. 1989-2006 Changes to expand our operations 1989 Changes are made in the Board of Directors: Trevor Metcalfe - Chairman Stephen Gaunt - Managing Director Christopher Gaunt - Financial Director Guy Metcalfe - Sales Director 1990 Company name is changed to Decorative Panels Limited. Completion of additional factory buildings doubles space availability enabling significant growth. 1991 Trevor Metcalfe retires from the business. 1992 First wide Hymmen hot roll laminating line installed to satisfy Decorative Panels growth. 1993 Two further sites in Huddersfield (Milnsbridge and Longwood) acquired to facilitate expansion. 1999 Coffin Manufacture ceases. 2001 The Company is split into: Decorative Panels Holdings Ltd Decorative Panels Lamination Ltd Decorative Panels Components Ltd Decorative Panels Lamination opens the site Lowfields I—a state of the art manufacturing facility—and install a second wide Hymmen hot roll laminating line. 2002 Phil Dalton (Son in Law of Stephen Gaunt) joins the business. 2007-2011 Changes to expand our operations 2007 Installation of sheet hollowcore board production line to produce dp-lite. 2009 Decorative Panels Group acquires flat pack furniture business in Teesside and rename it as Decorative Panels Furniture Ltd. 2009 Decorative Panels Lamination installs a Hymmen high Gloss lamination line. 2010 Decorative Panels Furniture open the site Teesside II doubling available production. 2011-2018 State of the art manufacturing 2011 Charlotte Metcalfe (Daughter of Guy Metcalfe) joins the business. 2012 Decorative Panels Components open the site Lowfields II—a state of the art manufacturing facility. 2013 Group Marketing Suite opened on the Lowfields II site. 2013 DPF Ltd install a Vitap Eclipse semi-automatic shaped edgebander, complete with integral glue pot and trimming station. 2014 DPF see capital equipment investment in a new high speed first and second pass edgebanding line, a full extraction system to Factory 1, a shaped panel production cell, further drilling equipment, enhancements to online printing on all packing lines and two state of the art fully automatic precision measurement tables. 2014 DPC invest in fully automatic drilling and dowel insertion line. 2014 Frank Gaunt Jnr passes away. 2014 The Prime Minister, David Cameron calls to see The Decorative Panels Group. 2014 DPC install another automated Biesse Stream Edgebanding Line increasing capacity to over 600,000 panels per week. 2015 DPC install the very latest Biesse Techno Kernel boring machine linked to RBO feeding and stacking – a completely automated high speed solution. 2015 The Group host a charity fun day for customers and staff. 2016 DPC add three new machines to the factory – a Homag tenoning machine (DET) a further Skipper point to point drilling machine and a Holzma cross cut saw. 2017 dp-limitless is launched. A bespoke flat sheet laminating line is added to the dp-specialist products production hall. Any surface, any substrate and any volume – the only limit is your imagination. 2017 DPF install a state-of-the-art new Weeke 800 drilling line with an automatically fed and stacked line comprising of two high power in-line drills for maximum throughput efficiency. In addition, a splitting unit is included to enable double output on smaller panels. 2017 DPF install a new Biesse Rover A Edge machine allowing the flat pack furniture division to further focus on the development and production of shaped panels. 2018 DPC install the ultimate fully automated edgebanding line - dp-seamless - measuring 59 metres. Panels are automatically fed, sized, edgebanded all round through linked first and second pass machines, grooved if required, cleaned and then automatically stacked at speeds of up to 32 parts per minute. A further single sided dp-seamless line is installed to facilitate small panel manufacture. In the beginning A great partnership Changes to expand State of the art 1881 1919 1946 1967 1979 1989 2007 2011 2018 About Us The future is maintaining a strong brand with a knowledgeable team supporting it. Our experience, in-depth market knowledge, and continual investment in infrastructure, people and machinery has produced a solid financial and ethical foundation from which to grow. As a family business our long-standing commitment to customer service has enabled us to develop into a company who always puts customers first. Over 10 designs held in stock Over 53 pallets of finished components delivered every week Over 1ft2 of manufacturing and distribution facility The Companies Europe’s leading supplier of decorative faced sheet materials, panel components and flat pack furniture. Learn More Leading the way in the production of laminated products supplying the widest possible marketplaces in the UK and internationally. Learn More One of the largest trade converters of wood based panels in the world, supplying cut, edged, drilled and shaped components. Learn More The largest specialist flat pack producer in the UK, reaping the benefits of vertical integration. Learn More Who We Are We are based in the North of England and operate from four sites, giving us 575,000ft² of production power. Our vertically integrated companies supply the most prominent names in the furniture and related industries. We currently have a total of 450 skilled employees split between our West Yorkshire and Teesside sites dedicated to the manufacture and distribution of laminated sheet materials, component panels and flat pack furniture. We are committed to continually creating and discovering new products, methods, technologies and designs that coupled with our continual capital investment program enable us to supply our customers’ innovative leading edge products. Resources & Downloads Click to view dp-video See Videos Our addresses: Decorative Panels Holdings Ltd Century House, Premier Way Lowfields Business Park, Elland West Yorkshire, England, HX5 9HF T: +44 (0) 1484 658341 Decorative Panels Lamination Ltd Premier Way Lowfields Business Park, Elland West Yorkshire, England, HX5 9HF T: +44 (0) 1484 658341 Decorative Panels Components Ltd Lowfields Way Lowfields Business Park, Elland West Yorkshire, England, HX5 9DA T: +44 (0) 1484 658341 Decorative Panels Furniture Ltd Dukesway, Teesside Industrial Estate, Thornaby-on-Tees, Cleveland, England, TS17 9LT T: +44 (0) 1484 658341 Useful links Cookies Privacy Site Map Modern Slavery Statement Wood Procurement Policy Contact Us Website by Prime Creative