Our History
1968
Setting up Shop
1968 was the year Mr J A Collingwood bought a humble furniture shop along Victoria Road – a shop that would later grow to become our flagship department store in Horley. The seller was a man named W.H. Batchellor, and these two family names proved the inspiration for the Collingwood Batchellor brand.
11 years later, Mr Collingwood’s wife, Audrey, ambitiously bought the freehold with the plan to rebuild and develop the business into a fully-fledged department store – and it’s a good job she did! Audrey gave the company a new lease of life and even now her ambition is recognised in our Hall of Fame.
1990’s
Branching Out
It wasn’t until 1993 that we would expand our reach with a new bed and linens store in the Orchards Shopping Centre in Haywards Heath. Our company continued to sell a wide range of furniture, beds and linens, as well as a variety of homewares.
In 1997, we added a third branch to our growing list of stores. The Horsham store has since grown to become one of the largest branches, showcasing some of our top living and dining room collections. You’ll also find a growing selection of upholstery, sofas and chairs in today’s store.
2001 saw us revisit our Haywards Heath branch by adding the shop next door as our dedicated furniture section.
2002
Hello Haslemere
We then quickly moved to open yet another store just a year later: the popular Haslemere branch. Specialising in furniture, this store has become a stalwart in Haslemere’s High Street – occupying its own car park and a massive selection of stylish sofas, chairs and plenty more.
It was from this point that Guy and Thomas Collingwood played an active role in developing the family business further – offering more ways to improve your home and make it your own.
2010’s
Big Changes
In 2013, Horley went from selling ladies’ clothing to form what is now a dedicated home store – specialising in what matters most: Your Home.
Good things come in threes.
Wothing’s largest furniture store, H.G. Scadgell, became part of the Collingwood Batchellor group in 2011, with Tom and Guy modernising the store to a high standard with a better range of furniture and a more stylish look.
August 2012 saw the launch of our first store in Kent. The Tunbridge Wells store in Royal Victoria Place stocks a range of cookware, china, glass and linens.
2016 brought the launch of a brand new Collingwood Batchellor store in East Grinstead. Formerly Rusdens, the East Grinstead store offers a wide variety of beds, bedroom furniture, linens and more.
2017-2019
Revisiting Stores
2017 saw Horsham’s impressive extension complete with its stunning new glass frontage. This renovation allowed for approximately 30% more floor space for new exciting showrooms and customer parking.
A new central staircase and a store expansion were added to our Worthing location in 2019.
2018
Delivering the Goods
We relocated to our new warehouse in Manor Royal, Crawley, in 2018. Our fleet of delivery vans travels from Crawley, which is in close proximity to our stores, Monday through Friday, delivering our furniture to about 200 customers each week. Our two-man delivery service is carried out by a team of experienced, professional, and courteous drivers.
2019 saw the launch of our new Gatwick Self Storage facility, offering a wide range storage solutions.
2024
Back to where it all started
In 2024 we expanded our Horley store with the construction of a central staircase that extends across all three floors. The modernisation of our Horley store, allowed to store to feel more spacious and accessible.
2024 also saw the relocation of our East Grinstead store to 220 London Road. The 10k square foot store was entirely redesigned to feature the best of our furniture and bed brands.
Our history has been since 1968; we’ve supplied families with furniture to help showcase who they are where it matters most – the home. We understand your choice in sofas, dining tables and everything else can say a lot about who you are, and that’s why we offer the variety of styles we do.
Everyone looks for something different in a piece of furniture; but we want to help you look beyond the quality and practicality you hear so much about. We’ve got you covered! We will find something that really suits who you are and who you want to be.
There’s plenty to choose from but you’ll know your new furniture when you see it – and of course if you need any help, give our friendly team a call on 01293 224859. We’ll help steer you in the right direction.
