Our Company History
Semmens Coal, Gas & Oil Supplies are a family run business that have been operating out of St Just-in-Penwith for 40 years.
Semmens Coal, Gas & Oil Supplies started life as a small coal merchants business in 1970 by founder Stanley Semmens.
Stanley Semmens bought his first coal round in 1970 and in 1979 he was joined by his son Stephen Semmens after buying another coal round.
Stephen Semmens, now Managing Director of Semmens Coal, Gas & Oil Supplies, proceeded with Stanley to expand the business and in 1983 they opened a new depot at Leswidden Common, St Just.
In the early days the depot was predominantly coal, other coal merchants would buy coal from the depot and sell it to their customers, as well as us delivering to our own customers.
Soon the ever expanding company began to distribute bottled gas to the mid and west Cornwall area. The bottled gas division of the business has developed over the years, forming a solid business partnership with Flogas Ltd. We are now there biggest independent distributer in Cornwall and haul all cylinders to each of the Flogas depots around the South West.
1991 saw the company steamlined, with the introduction of a new computer system, this was an essential part of taking the company forward, as Stanley Semmens had to retire.
In 1997 Stephen realised that the coal was becoming less popular as a heating source and saw a gap in the market for a local oil supplier offering a top class delivery service with competitive prices.
The first yellow tanker arrived in 1997 and was soon followed by another. Over the next couple of years the depot at Leswidden Common was developed to accommodate 7 storage tanks for Heating oil, Gas oil & Road Diesel, along with a loading gantry for the tankers.
In 2000 Stephen’s son Mark Semmens joined the company as a fulltime tanker driver, it was around this time that a baby tanker was added to the fleet. The baby tanker has become an integral part of our operations. We are able to provide a delivery service to most customers whatever the access is like.
Mark soon moved from being a tanker driver to become the depot manager and soon became a company director.
In 2006 Stephen’s daughter Michelle Semmens joined the company as an office clerk and is currently undertaking accountancy training to gain her AAT level 3 qulaification.
Currently Semmens Coal, Gas & Oil Supplies has expanded to include an Oil division, a Bottled gas division, a Coal division, a Boiler Maintainence division, a lubricants division, an Oil Tank division and a Personal Protective equipment clothing division.
