Taskers of Accrington is a family business that's over 120 years old so our history is something we like to shout about. It’s the reason why we stand out against so many other furniture retailers and we believe it’s the reason why so many of our customers keep coming back to us.

The Taskers family history goes back many years and (we think) the story of how Taskers of Accrington came to be is quite an incredible one. If you didn’t know, here's our story…

 

The Blacksmith

The first Tasker to make his mark on the town was Robert Tasker (1812-1882). He was the master blacksmith who created and built the mangle – the world’s first geared wooden roller wet clothes-wringing machine. We are sure it came in handy with his family of 15 but he refused to patent his invention, saying “God gives men brains to help his brother, not line his pockets”. Robert Tasker also made the gates to the Accrington Cemetery on Burnley Road and even had a street in the centre of town named after him – Tasker Street (pictured above).

The Corner Stone

It was his son, John William Tasker (1863-1939), who laid the foundations of the present-day company. John William and his wife Agnes set up a successful hardware shop on Whalley Road, Accrington and John also travelled the streets selling his wares from horse and cart.

The Salesman


Pictured: the mill which would later become Taskers HQ

The hardware shop was expanded by their son Robert Tasker (1893-1953). Robert was a natural salesman who built a large warehouse on Horne Street, Accrington to cope with the increasing demands of the business. Through his hard work and ingenuity, the business survived the 1930s slump and he moved the business to a bigger premises on Burnley Road, Accrington later that decade.

The Opportunist

The business was well established in the furniture and carpentry trade when Robert Howarth Tasker (1924-2017) took over from his late father in 1953. Robert Howarth took the bold initiative to move Taskers to its current location in Queens Mill, where the business changed from wholesalers to a direct-to-the-public furniture and carpet showroom.

The Forward Planner

After Robert Howarth’s retirement in 1984, his son Robert Phillip Tasker (1953 -) became the chairman of the company. Robert invested in the company and as a result of his systematic forward planning, the company grew into one of the most successful independent retailers of furniture in the North West!

 Taskers Of Accrington Today

In 2001, Ivor Lefton joined Taskers as the Managing Director. Over the past 16 years, he has continued to invest in the company and recently marked Taskers 120th year by completely refurbishing the showroom. Despite Ivor being the first non-family board member in the company’s history, the family values put in place are still held in high regard and we're extremely proud to represent the Taskers name.

We hope you have enjoyed learning a little bit about us, why not pay us a visit in our Accrington showroom where we have thousands of products on display and plenty of helpful members of staff? But if you can't wait that long, we have lots of our products available to buy on our website www.taskers.com