Dobie Wyatt, a small family-run business based in Cadley on the A346 on the way through the forest to Burbage. Small, family-run they may be, but for the haulage industry around here and for a pretty wide radius – even almost national – they are indispensable. They create the tarpaulins and covers that keep the trucks, and their important cargos dry and undamaged. In their sixty years, they have created their own niche.
Not just to the haulage / logistics area of business. Anyone needing a waterproof cover, made to any specific shape or design, Dobie Wyatt will create one according to the brief or supplied design so garden furniture, cars, or whatever can be kept protected from the elements when not in use outside.
Now in the fourth generation of family ownership and management Dobie Wyatt have become a trusted manufacturer of tarpaulins and automatic sheeting systems, and looking forwards with an expanding focus on aluminium and steel fabrication.
In 1964 Dobie Wyatt Ltd was founded by Fred and Molly Wyatt, along with Joyce (née Wyatt) and her husband Spencer Dobie. Remarkably, Spencer, who just retired at the age of 85, continues to remain involved, offering his invaluable experience and wisdom when needed. In the early days, their product range included haynets, climbing nets, coconut matting mattresses for athletics, and small tarpaulins. From their Cadley base, Marlborough, they have expanded steadily, adapting to the needs of the industries served and as noted above looking to embrace new advancements wanted by their long term regular customers such as automatic sheeting systems.
Today, the business is run by Graham and Sue Dobie and Nigel and Lorraine Thatcher, with their son Tom Thatcher as Managing Director. Together with his wife, Katie, Tom is committed to continuing the family tradition of excellence, and in the future the family are hopeful that the next generation, Max, Ellie and Molly will one day join the team, carrying the family legacy into the future.
But as in many other family owned and managed businesses, the ‘family’ extends beyond the bloodlines. Their dedicated staff are part of that wider ‘family’ as well. The small team at Cadley includes four skilled employees who uphold the values of quality and service that Dobie Wyatt have built their reputation on. They would like to note the contributions of Carolyn Sheppard and Michael Maguire, who, although no longer on staff, remain close friends of the company and continue to visit regularly.
The future: The best way to succeed is to provide customers what they want, in a way that those customers value, whilst also understanding what they might want just down the road. Hence ensure that today is about providing that vital first class service whilst tomorrow, more of the same, but embracing what those customers will be wanting going forwards. Hence the development of the automatic systems and alloy and steel fabrication, but everything at competitive prices.
Sixty years so far……… Who knows, with foresight, a good and dedicated team maybe generations of Dobie Wyatt serving the demands of the customer numbering well beyond the current four.
The Parade – maybe one-way past The Lamb?
