John B Smith Ltd

In Stockton-on-Tees, John B Smith Ltd manufactures two components that are often hidden once construction is complete but shape a building from the start: timber roof trusses and Easi-Joist floor systems with metal webs. The company serves the construction industry, bringing design, production, and delivery together in one operation.

The company traces its history to 1832, when John Stagg moved his timber business to Stockton to take advantage of rail connections and river transport. The firm later changed names and ownership several times; in 1919, John Barnabas Smith acquired it and adopted the John B Smith name. That history helps explain its continuing connection to structural timber and supplying construction projects.

Its roof-truss line is adapted to each project’s geometry. The technical catalog identifies configurations such as Fink, attic, queen post, scissor, and cantilever trusses, among others, and the company invites customers to ask about the full range for specific requirements. Rather than offering one standard piece for every roof, it calculates a solution around the shape, pitch, span, and expected loads.

The process begins with design: the team uses specialist software to plan roof and floor structures around project dimensions and applicable regulations. The company describes custom designs for complex layouts and coordinates that work with in-house manufacturing, where each assembly is prepared before shipment.

For its trusses, John B Smith says it uses kiln-dried, stress-graded timber, along with galvanized steel connector plates. Its technical specifications show a range of common pitches and spacings; final dimensions depend on the individual project and should not be read as sizes guaranteed for every build.

Easi-Joist is the other specialty: a metal-web floor-joist system that the company designs and manufactures in Stockton. Its service page presents these joists as an engineered flooring solution and emphasizes the connection between design, production, and supply. For a builder, that integration can simplify coordination from plans through delivery.

An in-house team handles delivery, and the company offers mechanical offloading at the job site, with assistance when needed. That matters for long, bulky materials, because logistics are part of installation as much as manufacturing. By coordinating design, production, and delivery, John B Smith can support roof and floor projects from initial specifications through arrival of the components at the job site.