If the first things you think of when you hear the words ‘builders’ and ‘merchants’ is endless rows of lifeless pallets of sand and cement as far as the eye can see, then think again.

The Gyle branch’s larger premises means it can cater for far more variety.

The huge three-acre site encompasses a massive warehouse, and yard, housing all the usual products you would expect: paving slabs, bricks, blocks, sand, cement and timber; plus, unusually, for a heavy-sided builders merchants, a bit of ironmongery and insulation. “If you’re building a house or an extension, you want to talk to us!” And plenty of folks certainly do!From trade to public, Thistle Timber supplies products for most major house builders and the company has also catered for smaller outfits with specific needs, such as a nursery looking for sand for its playgrounds.

Thistle Timber is also a very popular supplier to the general public of bark, topsoil and decking for domestic gardens.

And certainly, the seasonal attraction at the moment is landscaping. Indeed the Gyle branch’s crowning glory, a magnificent 400 square metres of display area,