William Tell was founded in 1980 as a sole proprietorship offering general joinery and manufacturing custom-built home furniture. Since then the business has grown organically from an initial capital base of R900 operating out of a 36m2 garage workshop, to having a net asset value of R190,8 million (30 June 2010) and owning 5,3 hectares of industrial land. William Tell has evolved from a custom furniture producer into a vigorous competitor in South Africa’s wood-based panel industry, by producing and adding value to chipboard products supplied to numerous businesses in sub-Saharan Africa.
• Market position in South Africa
William Tell entered the capital intensive wood based panel industry in 2007 when it started producing its own chipboard requirements for the first time. The Company is the smallest of three producers in South Africa having supplied only 6,3% of particleboard demand in the 2010 financial year. Installed capacity is sufficient to supply 12,5% of current South African demand and latent capacity exists to increase production capacity significantly.
• Competitive positioning
William Tell enjoys a major competitive advantage in that our facility is sited in the greater Johannesburg region, our primary market. William Tell, a truly South African wood-based panel producer is strategically positioned now to increase market share through an expanding network of distribution centres and a growing client base throughout southern Africa.