HPP’s ‘founding father’ Malcolm Hill celebrates his 90th birthday

The ‘founding father’ of one of Oldham’s most successful businesses, Malcolm Hill of Hill’s Panel Products (HPP) Ltd, has celebrated his 90th birthday.

Malcolm pops into the firm’s Scottfield Road headquarters almost daily.

He still has an office there and likes to keep abreast of events and chat to staff, who surprised him with a birthday party on one of his regular visits before he departed for a celebratory holiday in the Caribbean.

With a background in finance and timber, Malcolm was managing director at neighbouring George Hill Timber when he became HPP’s first MD following a de-merger 32 years ago.

Joined by sons Martin and Stephen, and a handful of staff who also made the move from next door, Malcom established HPP on a piece of land that was then in the shadow of George Hill.

The new firm had one warehouse, a trade counter, offices and some ‘borrowed’ storage space at George Hill’s, until its own site began to take shape with the construction of its own warehouse about 12 months later.

Since then, HPP - which now manufactures and supplies board, doors and fittings to the fitted kitchen and bedroom trade - has added 10 new warehouses and production units to its Oldham HQ site, a second trade counter in Sheffield and has a workforce approaching 200.

Martin Hill said: “With his background in finance, dad took on the role of finance in the new company while Stephen and I took on the manufacturing, sales and distribution.

"That’s how HPP came to be.”

Formed to supply melamine-faced chipboard (MFC) components to the fitted kitchen and bedroom industry, HPP expanded its range of merchandise significantly too, with more than 7,000 products, covering a huge range of full and processed sheet materials, vinyl-wrapped furniture doors and furniture fittings.

Its own products include Avanti doors, Glide sliding doors, and Aspect and Aspire kitchens and bedrooms. It also supplies products by brands such as Blum, Egger and Kronospan.

Following Malcolm’s retirement, Martin and brother Stephen took over the running of HPP and have since been joined by managing director Keith Wardrope.

Away from work, Malcolm has had a lifelong love of flying and aviation after completing his National Service in the RAF.

He became a qualified private pilot at the age of 40 and flew a Cherokee Arrow four-seater plane for 43 years, accumulating 2,500 flying hours.

He is a former Liberal councillor, in the days before the Liberal Democrats, and was chair of Saddleworth Parish Council for a time, and he has been Chairman of Saddleworth Male Voice Choir for 25 years - a role he holds even though he doesn’t sing.

He is a member of Saddleworth Rotary Club, joining from Saddleworth Round Table.

And although Malcolm has been a regular visitor to the Caribbean over the years, Martin explains that’s down to his mum, Margaret.

He said: “I’d say his favourite destination is their caravan in Wales, but my mum loves going on long haul holidays, so he goes under sufferance really!”

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