Supplying Building Products for more than 160 years

Hudson's long and illustrious history began when William Henry Hudson set up the business in 1846, just six years after the transportation of convicts to New South Wales had ceased. Five generations of the Hudson family grew the business to be one of the best known hardware and building products suppliers on the East Coast of Australia. During the early days some of the more interesting projects that involved Hudson were the construction of Sydney's first horse-drawn trams; the supply of prefabricated timber buildings; and the production of 1000 railway carriages to the State Railways Department. In 1914 Hudson supplied timber from a 100 year old Sugar Pine to the famous surfer Duke Kahanamoku who then created it into his ”Longboard“.

Hudson's growth accelerated when one of Sydney's highest retention advertising slogans "Udson with a Haitch" was developed in 1975. In 2003, following a management buyout, the business name changed to Hudson Building Supplies Pty Ltd. Since then, our focus has been on providing high levels of service to the building trade as well as the serious home renovator.

As the building markets changed Hudson adapted itself to concentrate on Australia's Eastern seaboard with a main focus on NSW and South East Queensland. There are now 15 branches in the portfolio.

In November 2010, Hudson was acquired by Crane Distribution Ltd.

As we move forward we will continue the focus on the high levels of customer service, innovation and quality that have been embedded into the DNA of our business for more than 160 years.