The Squires History
Squires started life as a small business operating out of the Kitchen and lounge of Roger’s cottage in Flansham. The business quickly started to grow and an old Corn Store was rented from the local farmer for a mere peppercorn rent. Here Squires remained until July of 1998 when it was decided that the Kitchen, Lounge, Hallways and Corn Store were all bulging at the seams and it was time to move onto new and larger premises. After an extensive search the perfect building turned out to be just a couple of miles away in London Road, Bognor Regis.
Utilising the hard work of everyone involved, the purchase of 100 London Road was secured and Squires moved to its new home. The Retail Shop was open towards the end of 1998. Over the next 10 years the business continued to grow, employing more and more staff as it went along. With new staff came new products and product ranges. The Fine Art, Craft and Haberdashery Ranges were also added to the Squires Portfolio of Ranges. In 2014 the latest extension to the Shop took place, creating a dedicated space for each range within the shop. The Exhibition Stands also grew ever popular with teams attending anything up to four exhibitions at a time.
Over more recent years, other brands / companies have joined Squires. We have been delighted to welcome South Eastern Finecast, Stevenson Carriages and Green Scene to our home in Bognor Regis. This has since been complemented with the arrival of the Ex247 Developmnets Coaches from Errol Surman which although not back in production yet, will become available via our South Eastern Finecast Website.
We are excited for the times ahead, especially now moving into this more digital era. More recently Freestone Model Accessories joined the family and is available via the Green Scene Website.
2024 saw the biggest expansion of Squires to date. Following the sad closure of DJH Engineering Ltd, Squires secured the future of two of its ranges. We are proud to welcome DJH Model Loco and Finesse Design to the Squires Family. This expansion saw a rapid increase to the Work Force as both Factory and Retail Units were taken on in Consett, County Durham. This expansion means that Squires now proudly operates two retail shops. Our Main Shop remains in London Road, Bognor Regis. Our new Northern Shop is located within the Factory Facility at Consett, County Durham. The acquisition of new manufacturing facilities has allowed our Spin Casting to be moved into the hands of dedicated professionals and much more modern Casting Machines. This in turn has seen many of the long awaited South Eastern Finecast Kits returning to the Market with more to follow soon.
2025 and beyond is looking to be great, with work continuing on the long overdue website project.