About Us

A True Family Business

 

It was back in the day, my Grandfather, Fred, after WWII had passed, that he went into engineering and tool making in north London. He went onto design tools and equipment, some of which are still used in such places as hospitals even today. In 1953, after he married he moved into Northamptonshire and wanted to work for himself. He really could put his hand to anything, so decided to start general building. His 3 sons worked with him in their school holidays, and therefore Fred called his company Dobson & Sons. His boys really enjoyed working with their hands, so when they came of age, they joined Fred in his building work.

Working with our hands has always been in our blood. In fact, its a Dobson trait!

My father, Rolf, when he had been working with Fred for a few years, decided to branch out and learn roofing to aid his fathers business. His father-in-law was also a roofer and taught him how to felt flat roofs. It wasn’t long before his trademark of slate grey roofs with terracotta ridge became a thing of beauty in his local town of Wellingborough. He had become so well known for his quality roof work, that he taken the opportunity to become his own company, as it was just too much work for him, his father and his two brothers. In 1987, Dobson Roofing began trading. After a few years trading as Dobson Roofing, it was well known that we were the best roofers in the area.

When I was 8 years old I went onto my very first roof, a 3 story B&B. From then on, I started to work with my father whenever I could. When I had left school at 16, I went straight into the business and began to take on more training with my father. He has taught me all I know, and we have now worked for many years together. In the meantime, Fred had been working in the building trade up until he was 72! Our work included the local schools as well as cricket clubs and the like.

Since then, I have moved to the Brighton area after I had got married, and decided to go back to the original Dobson family company name. So here we are. This is a true family business. This is Dobson & Son Ltd.