The Wilde family has been trading for 85 years and are involved with plant hire and supplying parts and engines for contractors’ plant. “A T Wilde & Son Ltd is a family run business and started in 1937,” Ian explained. “My grandfather, Alfred Thomas Wilde, originally ran a blacksmith’s shop near Shrewsbury. He earned his living shoeing horses, tractor repairs, and supplying generating sets and Lister Petter engines.”
Present day premises
The company’s current three-acre, state-of-the-art premises are very different from the black-and-white timber-framed building that was A T Wilde & Son Ltd’s first home, but the rural setting in South Shropshire offered a business opportunity.
“My grandfather realised there was a shortage of electric power within the rural areas of the county and began to market Lister generators,” Ian said. Three generations later, the company has expanded its product range to include parts and engines from all the leading manufacturers.
