Towards the end of the war Halls moved back to manufacturing buildings, but this time of a more complicated nature, manufacturing pre-fabricated housing for the services.

In the post war period, getting back to garden buildings manufacture proved difficult as softwood was only available under licence and these could not be obtained. Second hand timber had to be used instead and this was full of nails and foreign objects, requiring a metal detector before processing with expensive saws.

The numbers of employees reduced dramatically and by 1947 were back to pre-war levels of fifty. During 1947, R H Hall & Co was amalgamated with a public company Austins of East Ham to form the Austin Hall Group.

Halls re-started their hefty mail order advertising campaigns which became something of a national institution and turnover and profits increased dramatically.
                     
                     CLICK TO NEXT PAGE

Initially, Halls specialised in poultry houses operating out of Clapham. Robert moved the business to Kent in 1936 and within a year expanded the range to include garden sheds, sdf

His buildings were unique at the time in that they were made out of red cedar wood imported from Canada. This durable wood gave him an instant marketing advantage over his rivals, and this coupled with lower prices and free delivery to anywhere in England and Wales, resulted in an impressive growth period.

Robert sold his products through mail order advertising in national papers such as the News Chronicle and Daily Express:"The cedar wood specialist - everlasting rot-proof portable buildings at a price you can afford"

During the war, Halls was given over to
Government work and produced ammunition boxes, nissen huts, canteen tables, tent pegs and even paint brush handles. Shed manufacture had to be discontinued at the end of 1940 as materials became scarce. During this time the workforce increased to 250 mainly females and Italian prisoners of war!