Hayter
Company typePrivate limited company[1]
IndustryHorticultural equipment
Founded1946
Headquarters,
England
Area served
United Kingdom
Key people
Douglas Hayter (founder)
ProductsLawn mowers
Number of employees
51–200[2]
ParentToro
Websitewww.hayter.co.uk

Hayter is a British high-end manufacturer and distributor of garden machinery, specialising in industrial and domestic lawn mowers. The company's headquarters are located in Spellbrook, Hertfordshire, where it was founded in 1946 by Douglas Hayter, a pioneer of the rotary mower.[3] The company was awarded a Royal Warrant in 1960.

History

The engineer Douglas Hayter (1914–2000)[4] formed the idea of the rotary lawn mower after he visited the London Science Museum where he saw a 100-year-old, horse drawn rotary mower, in around 1946. He returned to his house in Spellbrook, Hertfordshire, where he built a frame using some accumulated parts and combined it with a second hand, two-stroke engine. The following day, the machine was in full working order. Local interest in his design grew and he made similar machines for his neighbours. He called it the Hayter Motor Scythe and put it into production in 1947. Among his first customers was Ipswich Town Council. Further work, including the installation of a safety stone guard, was fitted to the mower deck. Hayter changed the two-stroke engine to a four-stroke variant with a horizontal crankshaft. Hayter's business became a limited company in 1946.[3]

The company was awarded a Royal Warrant in 1960 by Elizabeth II for the supply of horticultural equipment to the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk. To date, it is the sole supplier of lawn mowers to the British royal estate.[5] Hayter was bought by the American horticultural company, Toro, in 2005.[6]

Products

Hayter supply two types of machine;[7]

Petrol powered

Battery powered

Specialist products

References

  1. ^ Hayter Limited, Companies House record, accessed 19 April 2021.
  2. ^ Official Hayter Linkedin account, Hayter lawnmowers, accessed 18 April 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Our heritage", Hayter website, accessed 14 April 2020.
  4. ^ "Blue plaque to honour Douglas Hayter", Landscape and Amenity, 29 March 2019. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  5. ^ Hayter Limited, The Royal Warrant Holders Association, accessed 14 April 2020.
  6. ^ "The Toro Company Acquires Hayter Limited", Toro Company website, accessed 14 April 2020.
  7. ^ "Hayter range", Hayter website, accessed 14 April 2020.