The business changed. The name followed

After 125 years, Daltons has a new identity

There are machines in Daltons’ Nottingham premises that were built before many of the people reading this were born. Heavy, cast-iron Wadkin machines; the sort that were designed when longevity was measured in generations rather than warranty periods.

A few metres away, the picture looks rather different. CNC routers move at speeds that would once have seemed impossible. Spindle moulders set themselves. Automated crosscut saws optimise timber and determine yield before even making a cut.

Somewhere between those two ends of the workshop lies the reason the company has changed its name.

This year marks 125 years since Daltons was founded in Nottingham in 1901. For almost two decades, the company traded as Daltons Wadkin, following its acquisition of Wadkin’s intellectual property in 2008. But in 2026, it’s returned to something simpler.

Daltons.

At first glance, changing a name after so long might appear a curious way of celebrating history. In reality, the change has rather more to do with what’s happened to the business underneath it.

Where once Daltons supplied woodworking machinery alone, today, its customers work not only with solid timber and wood-based panels, but also with composites, plastics and metals. Its machinery portfolio now stretches from spindle moulders, bandsaws and crosscut saws to CNC machining centres, automatic sawing lines and CNC fibre lasers.

The transformation didn’t happen because somebody designed a new brand, however; the logo came afterwards.

Over the past few years, Daltons has expanded its engineering team, developed a dedicated CNC service capability, increased spare parts stock and invested in its demonstration and training facilities.

Partnerships with European manufacturers including Kimla, Salvador and SCM have taken the company into technologies and industries that would have looked decidedly unfamiliar to Daltons at the turn of the century.

And yet woodworking remains at the heart of the business.

That distinction matters.

The Wadkin name hasn’t disappeared. Daltons remains its custodian, continuing to supply Wadkin machines, parts and service, and supporting thousands of machines still earning their keep in workshops around the world. But Wadkin can now stand as a machinery brand in its own right, rather than having to describe the whole company.

Perhaps that’s the advantage of being 125 years old. You become slightly less frightened of change.

Four generations of the family have run Daltons. Each inherited something from the generation before it, but none inherited exactly the same business.

The company’s job is no different.

The machines change. The materials change. The technology certainly changes.

The name above the door has simply caught up.

For more information on Daltons, see www.daltonsmachines.com.