About Us

Burnhills is a country store specialising in equestrian, pet and livestock supplies. We offer a huge range of products from stock, dispatched from our shop and warehouse in Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire.

We are a fifth generation family run business that started trading in 1855 from our town centre site in Cleckheaton. In August 2008 we relocated to our superb new 11,500sqft store and warehouse, allowing us to offer an even greater range of products.

Our new store is located in a modern and spacious business park in Cleckheaton, less than a mile from our old town centre site. Customer parking is available and a fantastic array of products are available to browse and purchase.

Burnhills Store In Cleckheaton

Our bricks & mortar store is complimented by our state of the art e-commerce website, offering value, convenience, a wealth of information and a superb next day delivery service.

Both instore and online, our experienced team of friendly staff are ready to help with any advice, tips or information you may require.

Our focus on customer service has been the key to our success over the generations and we look forward to continuing this for generations to come.

Read on below to find out about our history or click here to meet the team >>

Burnhills History

Find Out About The History Of Burnhills

1855 - James Hodgson Burnhill takes over a grocers shop in Northgate, Cleckheaton from his uncle, Mr Firth, where he worked as an assistant.


1860 - 1880 James starts to roll oats in the cellar of the shop to sell to local farmers and horse owners. He has four sons: Benjamin, Frederick, Clifford and Charles.

 

1890 - Part of Northgate Mills (opposite the shop) is rented for the production of animal feeds. These are all mixed with shovels on the floor.

 

1895 - More of Northgate Mills is rented as animal feed side of the business grows.

 

1919 - All of Northgate Mills is purchased. Machinery is installed to grind and mix cereals.

 

1947 - New silos and grinding plant installed.

 

1950 - Lime spreading service started using ex army 4-wheel drive trucks.

 

1960 - A period of great change. Charles Burnhill, who ran the grocers shop, retires. Benjamin, Frederick and Clifford all sadly die in the same year. Norman and John Burnhill along with Norman's two sons James and Roger now run the business and decide to close the grocers and invest heavily in updating and extending the mill.

 

At the same time adjacent premises on Serpentine Road come up for sale. The buildings and land are purchased enabling a new warehouse  and loading bay to be built and the offices to be relocated.

 

1967 - A huge fire burns out the mill and most of the surrounding building. With the help of several companies who manufactured feed into Burnhill bags, the customer base is held together.

 

1968 - The new mill opens. A modern single span building replaces the old plant which was squeezed into several old buildings.

 

A pig scheme, Pork Productions, is started to enable a partnership with farmers to fatten pigs.

 

1970 - The company install their first computer to run the sales accounts.

 

1973 - Burnhills purchase the goodwill and assets of local corn merchant J Blackburn Ltd.

 

Andrew Burnhill, son of John Burnhill, joins the company.

 

1976 - The company diversifies with the addition of a fresh and frozen meats store adjacent to Northgate Mills

 

1978 - Further computerisation of the company with Least Cost Feed Formulation and a fully integrated system to run sales, purchase and nominal ledgers.

 

1983 - The mixing department in the mill is computerised. Extra raw material and finished product silos are installed. The bag packing line is automated.

 

1997 - New bulk out bins are constructed. A new computer system is installed in the mill which links all departments including office systems and feed formulation.

 

1999 - Accredited with the Quality Assurance Scheme ISO9002 becoming one of the first feed mills in the country to be recognised under the UKASTA Feed Assurance Scheme.

 

2002 - A change in legislation makes it impossible to continue to manufacture the full range of feeds in the one plant. Sadly the mill is closed and the animal feed business is merged with Massey Bros.

 

2003 - Ben and later Sam Burnhill, sons of Andrew Burnhill, take over the running of the business.

 

The mill shop is extended and more product lines are introduced.

 

2007 - Move from Northgate Mills to Middleton Business Park.

 

2011 - Sophie Burnhill, daughter of Andrew Burnhill, joins the team.

 

2012 - The company launches its ecommerce website www.burnhills.com

Meet The Burnhills Team
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