Cordiners is Aberdeen’s oldest family-run business and it’s just been given the royal nod of approval by King Charles. But who are the family behind the 150-year-old Torry timber firm, and will a sixth generation of the family continue the tradition?
Lindsay Bruce met up with Stuart and Pauline Cordiner to find out what the real family is like behind the business…
Torry has always been the beating heart of this family business
Growing up amidst sawdust and shavings, Stuart Cordiner can’t remember a time when he wasn’t surrounded by blocks of timber.
The great-great grandson of James Cordiner, who started his wooden boat-building business in Cove in 1870, Stuart and wife Pauline are the fifth generation of Cordiners at the helm of a family business that’s been a mainstay in Torry since 1908.
“Of course, it’s not a boat-building business now,” Stuart, 54, laughs. “We’ve changed a lot since then.”
“What’s lovely is how many people have fond memories of working here over the years,” Pauline adds. “At one time we had hundreds of employees, especially during the war.”
From boats to barrels
Situated on Sinclair Road, where they’ve been for 117 years, Cordiners moved to the banks of the Dee in 1870.
“My great-great granddad started out making small wooden vessels and lifeboats. From Cove they moved into larger premises and eventually got planning permission to create a bigger boatbuilding works.”
As the fishing industry grew, so did the market for fish barrels and boxes.
“Just as the demand for wooden boats declined,” dad of two Stuart said.
Evidence of the family’s business acumen is clear. Whenever the tide changed for what was required, the company adapted.
‘Lots of Torry mums and grannies worked here during the war’
James passed the business on to his son James, then on to Stuart’s grandfather Alfred.
Married to Margaret, one of the city’s first female pharmacists, Alfred and his brother James carried on the entrepreneurial spirit.
“Between the wars, the company manufactured vast numbers of barrels and returnable boxes for fresh herring and salted fish. Then when the Ministry of Defence commandeered the place for the war effort, munition cases were made by Cordiners,” Stuart explained. ”
“When I shared a photo on our Instagram page for International Women’s Day it was incredible to see so many people saying their granny or their mum had worked here,” former lawyer Pauline added. “It was nearly all women during the war.”
Oil and gas brought new opportunities for Stuart’s dad
By the late 40s, the family’s wood know-how extended to making bottle cases for returnable glass Coca Cola and Barr’s Irn-Bru bottles.
“I think we still have the stencil for those boxes in our archives,” Pauline adds.
From Alfred and Jim to Stuart’s dad, J. Stephen Cordiner, who took the reins alongside his cousin Jimmy, the next big challenge was meeting the needs of the oil and gas sector.
Bespoke crates, pallets and boxes were produced and in the early 80s a timber centre was opened on Crombie Place before moving to the Sinclair Road site.
Family business in more ways than one…
In the late 90s Stuart met Pauline Cowie at their church.
The couple tied the knot in 2000.
“We had our service in Deeside Christian Fellowship and then our reception at the Marcliffe Hotel,” Pauline said.
“The Marcliffe was actually my grandfather’s family home growing up. So even it has a tie to our family,” Stuart, who became the company’s managing director in 2008, added.
The couple started a family and after having their children, a daughter and son, Pauline left her legal job to also became an integral part of the day-to-day running of the business.
“I know you wanted to talk about the family aspect of it,” she said, “but what I really love is how long people have worked with us.
“We really try to be flexible for the 20 people we employ. Their families are important to us too.
“Like Claire. She started when she was 15 straight from Torry Academy. And just a couple of years ago we celebrated two retirements, they had each worked with us for 30 years.”
‘Cordiners, Torry and church have always been connected’
In fact, Cordiners and Torry have been intertwined for almost as long as the business.
Aberdonians may remember Cordiner car garages and it was the Cordiner family who were instrumental in starting Torry’s Victoria Road Gospel Hall.
Alfie Cordiner, who was a Sunday School teacher at that Torry church, ran the city’s popular Victoria Restaurant above Jamieson and Carry.
And faith remains a key factor in how Stuart and Pauline operate.
“Stuart’s mum and dad were hardworking people who ran the business but always had a houseful of people because of church,” said Pauline. “That’s how we both grew up.”
Even now the pair are part of a new church meeting in Torry’s Bridge Centre, they donate wooden goods to outreach and charity projects and volunteer their time each week at an Alpha Course.
“Make sure you don’t make this about us though,” they both ask at different times. “Everybody that works here makes the business what it is.”
And what it is, is remarkable.
Timber fit for a king?
Now specialising in providing marine timber for ship and rig owners in the UK and abroad, they’ve also expanded into construction supplies, kitchens and bathrooms.
Not to mention being a supplier of royal households.
Having secured a Royal Warrant under Queen Elizabeth – only granted to people or companies that provide paid-for goods and services to the royal household for at least five years – Stuart reapplied, this time with King Charles as the reigning Monarch.
A known stickler for sustainability and the impact businesses could have on the environment, it was a nervous wait to see if they would be granted the warrant.
“We believed we met the criteria. We take these things seriously,” Stuart explains.
“Wherever possible we ensure our timber comes from indigenous, sustainable forests.”
“And often our suppliers are multi-generational Scottish family businesses as well,” adds Pauline.
Happy memories of dancing with royalty
They needn’t have worried. Cordiners were granted the royal warrant for another five years – the longest term it can be awarded.
“We were absolutely delighted, and what was really lovely, when we went to Balmoral for a Royal Warrant Holders event, the King remembered us from a visit to commemorate our 150th anniversary,” Pauline said.
The King, then better known in Aberdeen as the Duke of Rothesay, visited the Torry site in September 2021. Postponed and rescheduled due to Covid, it was a “pinch-me” moment for the family.
“Our parents and children were here. It was really special,” Pauline said. “He [Charles] took an interest in every person. He stopped and talked to each member of staff.”
“One of my favourite things to come from that visit was Csaba, one of our manufacturing staff, who is originally from Hungary, chatting to the man that’s now the King.
“He was just so proud and so delighted,” Stuart added.
But were Stuart and Pauline apprehensive about hosting members of the Royal Family?
“There’s quite a big lead in to these things. Lots of police checks and site visits, but because of holding a Royal Warrant already, we had been to Balmoral and Birkhall for the Ghillie’s ball,” said Stuart.
“It’s very surreal,” Pauline smiles, “to be ceilidh dancing with members of the royal family.”
“It’s really special to have those memories.”
‘We feel privileged to do what we do,’ say Stuart and Pauline
What does the future hold for Cordiners Timber and Building Supplies, and the family behind it?
“For five generations we’ve adapted and flourished within Torry. Our motto is ‘Building on our heritage, with excellence, value and integrity, to grow our future’… I think we’ll continue to do that,” says Stuart.
And will another generation of the family take over?
“Funnily enough that’s what the King asked our son,” laughs Pauline. “But the reality is that it’s a huge undertaking so we’ll see.”
“We’d welcome both of our children into the business if that’s what they’d like to do, but that will be for them to decide.
“I started over 35 years ago – doing a stint in every area of the business, like an apprentice. There’s plenty still to learn and adapt to.
“And it’s a privilege to be the fifth generation to do so.”
More My Family stories:
- Meet the Ferguson family from Turriff: The ‘world’s most adventurous family’
- The Lochaber family of coastguards with over 100 years service between them
- Jiu Jitsu father and son from Laurencekirk on dealing with bullies and respecting their deadly craft
Conversation