Burgon & Ball

What Burgon & Ball does

Burgon & Ball is a Sheffield, England-based manufacturer of garden tools and agricultural implements founded in 1730, making it one of the oldest tool manufacturers in the world. The company produces a broad portfolio of physical hand tools organized into long-handled tools (spades, forks, hoes, rakes), hand tools (trowels, cultivators, weeders), cutting tools (secateurs, shears, knives, loppers), sheep shearing equipment, and complementary accessories such as the Kneelo® memory foam kneeler line, watering cans, indoor pots, and tool maintenance products. Manufacturing is grounded in Sheffield steel-making expertise with proprietary processes including Rockwell hardness control (56-58 HRC), a patented double hollow grind, and a classic shear design patented in 1865 that remains in production, with craftsmen hand-setting blades by eye. A flagship Royal Horticultural Society endorsement covers the stainless steel garden tool and cutting tool ranges, with lifetime guarantees on stainless tools and 10-year guarantees on cutting tools backing the quality claim.

The business operates a dual-channel go-to-market model, selling through its own e-commerce site (burgonandball.com) including a dedicated trade account program, alongside a multi-tiered UK retail network spanning major garden center chains (Dobbies Garden World with 30+ locations, Hayes, Barton Grange, Longacres), independent garden centers, the five RHS garden shops, and lifestyle/department stores. Pricing is unit-based across tiers from sub-£10 accessories to over £50 premium tools, with no subscription or recurring component. Sub-brands segment the portfolio by use case and audience, including RHS Endorsed Tools, Sophie Conran for Burgon & Ball (designer collaboration), RHS Gifts for Gardeners, Kneelo®, BoronGreen (sustainable), FloraBrite®, and the Collector Range. Burgon & Ball is a subsidiary of Venanpri Group, the private equity platform of Onex (ONCAP), and in February 2026 became part of Veritage Brands, a joint venture combining Venanpri's hand tools and garden businesses with Griffon Corporation's AMES businesses, with Venanpri/ONCAP holding 57% and Griffon holding 43%.

Name

Burgon & Ball

Legal name

Burgon & Ball Limited

Website

https://burgonandball.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1730

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Burgon & Ball is a Sheffield-based manufacturer of premium garden tools, cutting implements, and agricultural equipment founded in 1730, selling globally via its own e-commerce site, trade accounts, and thousands of UK and international retail stockists under a Royal Horticultural Society-endorsed brand.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Sheffield

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Product Sales - Garden Tools: One-time sales of high-quality garden tools including spades, forks, hoes, trowels, secateurs, and other cutting implements. Products are sold directly through e-commerce and through retail stockists. Revenue is generated through individual product transactions with no recurring subscription component.
2. Product Sales - Garden Accessories: Sales of accessories including kneelers, gloves, watering cans, plant pots, homeware, and outdoor lifestyle products. One-time purchase model for these complementary gardening products.
3. Product Sales - Agricultural Tools: Sales of sheep shearing equipment, hoof care tools, and agricultural hardware to farming customers. Professional-grade tools sold with premium pricing.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Burgon & Ball manufactures and sells Sheffield-made garden tools and agricultural supplies including long-handled tools (spades, forks, hoes, rakes), hand tools (trowels, cultivators, weeders), cutting tools (secateurs, shears, knives, loppers), Kneelo memory foam kneelers, watering cans, indoor plant pots, plus sheep shears and hoof care tools. The company operates its own e-commerce store and a UK retail stockist network, with flagship lines carrying Royal Horticultural Society endorsement, lifetime guarantees on stainless steel tools, and ten-year guarantees on cutting tools.

Product overview

Burgon & Ball is a traditional manufacturer of garden tools and agricultural supplies with a heritage dating back to 1730 in Sheffield, UK. The company produces a comprehensive portfolio of physical hand tools organized into core product categories: Long Handled Tools (spades, forks, hoes, rakes), Hand Tools (trowels, cultivators, weeders), Cutting Tools (secateurs, shears, knives, loppers), and Agricultural Tools (sheep shears, hoof care). The offering extends to accessories including Kneelo® memory foam kneelers and knee pads, watering cans in various sizes, indoor plant pots and vases, tool maintenance products, and tool storage racks. Several sub-brands segment the portfolio: RHS Endorsed Tools bearing Royal Horticultural Society approval with extended guarantees; the Sophie Conran designer collaboration; RHS Gifts for Gardeners with botanical illustration designs; and the Collector Range of premium ceramic indoor plant accessories. The company operates as part of Venanpri Group, with its hand tool brands (including Corona Tools) combined into the Veritage Brands joint venture with Griffon Corporation. The product strategy is based on physical manufacturing quality with steel expertise and RHS endorsement as key differentiators. No digital products, APIs, or AI-enabled features are offered.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Kneelo®: Memory foam gardening kneelers and knee pads featuring shock-absorbing EVA foam sandwiched between two layers of memory foam.
• Sophie Conran for Burgon & Ball
• RHS Endorsed Tools
• RHS Gifts for Gardeners
• BoronGreen
• Corona Tools
• Collector Range
• Creaturewares

Products and services

• Long Handled Tools A collection of spades, forks, hoes, rakes, weeders, bulb planters and brushes with extended handles designed to reduce back strain during gardening, with RHS-endorsed stainless steel options carrying a lifetime guarantee and high-carbon steel variants.
• Hand Tools Extensive range of garden hand tools including trowels, forks, hoes, cultivators, rakes, weeders and hand brushes with stainless steel heads and FSC hardwood handles, with RHS-endorsed options carrying a lifetime guarantee.
• Cutting Tools Specialty cutting tools including secateurs, hand shears, snips, florists' tools, garden knives, hedge shears, loppers, saws, sickles and axes made from precision-hardened high-carbon steel, many RHS-endorsed with a ten-year guarantee.
• Kneelo® Kneelers and Knee Pads Memory foam gardening kneelers and knee pads featuring shock-absorbing EVA foam sandwiched between two layers of memory foam for superior comfort during ground-level or standing garden tasks. A Chelsea Product of the Year finalist.
• Sheep Shearing Tools Professional-grade sheep shears manufactured in Sheffield using the classic 1865 patented design, with precision heat-treated blades (56-58 Rockwell hardness), hot-rolled bows, double hollow grind and craftsman hand-setting, available in British/European, African, Australian/New Zealand and North/South American patterns.
• Weed Slice and Super Slice Award-winning weeding tools using a horizontal push-and-pull action to slice weed roots just below the soil surface, ideal for gravel drives, pathways and weed control membranes; the Super Slice variant cuts on both push and pull strokes.
• Wonder Weed Puller Award-winning standing weeder for lawn weed removal, with prongs that grip weed crowns, a 360-degree twist for root extraction, and a plunger to eject weeds, allowing chemical-free weeding safe around pets and children.
• Watering Cans Single-handed watering cans in galvanized steel ranging from indoor sizes to 9-litre capacity, featuring oval shape for knee clearance, removable roses for adjustable watering, and ergonomic handle design.
• Indoor Plant Pots and Vases Indoor plant containers in various sizes, designs and colours, including hanging pots, cactus vases, statement bowls, metal floor pots and herb pots, spanning designer collaborations and Collector Range pieces.
• Topiary Care Tools Hand-forged topiary shears manufactured in the Sheffield factory, including large and small trimming shears and professional soft-squeeze variants, RHS-endorsed with a ten-year guarantee, plus sharpeners and accessories.
• Tough Tools Rugged tools manufactured from ultra-tough carbon steel for demanding garden tasks, including the Japanese Razor Hoe in laminated Japanese steel, vegetable harvesting knife, lawn weeding knife, Mighty Pick and Ultimate Asparagus Knife.
• Hoof Care Tools Agricultural hoof care implements including footrot shears, classic farmer's knives and farmer packs designed for regular hoof health checks, disease prevention and trimming management in sheep and other livestock.
• Tool Maintenance and Sharpeners Tool care accessories including blade edge restorers, miniature sharpening steels, traditional sharpening stones, topiary shear sharpeners and white tool oil for cleaning and rust protection.
• Tool Rack Universal wall-mounted tool storage system with expandable clips (standard and wide sizes) holding everything from small hand tools to heavy-duty spades, infinitely expandable with additional clip packs.
• RHS Endorsed Tools Flagship garden tool range endorsed by the Royal Horticultural Society, comprising stainless steel long-handled tools, hand tools and cutting tools with lifetime guarantee on stainless steel items and ten-year guarantee on cutting tools.
• Sophie Conran for Burgon & Ball Collection Designer collaboration collection with Sophie Conran featuring elegant garden tools, topiary shears, herb pots and galvanized indoor/greenhouse watering cans with a sophisticated design aesthetic.
• RHS Gifts for Gardeners RHS-endorsed gift collection featuring botanical illustration designs such as British Bloom, Flora and Fauna, Passiflora, British Meadow, Asteraceae and Woodland Wonders, applied to kneelers, watering cans and other accessories.
• Collector Range Premium collector's collection of glazed ceramic indoor plant pots, vases, watering cans and accessories in various colourways including Blue Stripe, Scalloped and Collector Herb Pots.
• Agricultural Hardware Farm tools and accessories including yard brushes, gloves, horticultural pruning tools and knee pads for non-shearing livestock management and general farm maintenance.

Quantifiable outcome

• 60% more cutting power than regular shears
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Griffon CorporationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 February 2026Griffon Corporation combined its AMES Companies businesses in North America with ONCAP's/Venanpri's hand tools and garden businesses including Burgon & Ball through a joint venture. Griffon holds 43% equity in the new Veritage Brands entity. This creates a global hand tools and garden products company operating across North and South America, Europe, and other regions.
• Royal Horticultural Society (RHS)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 February 2026The RHS provides endorsement for Burgon & Ball's stainless steel garden tools and cutting tools. This endorsement represents a significant third-party validation of product quality and is a major marketing differentiator. The RHS is one of the world's foremost horticultural organizations.
• Sophie ConranminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDesigner collaboration with Sophie Conran creating a range of premium garden tools and accessories with distinctive design aesthetics. Products include herb pots, topiary shears, indoor watering cans, and greenhouse watering cans in the Sophie Conran collection.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Felco: Swiss manufacturer of professional-grade secateurs, pruning shears, and cutting tools. Comparable premium positioning, similar lifetime-guarantee business model, and overlapping professional gardener customer segment.
• Corona Tools: Sister company within Veritage Brands JV; US-based manufacturer of professional and consumer cutting tools, pruners, and saws. Directly comparable product categories and now sharing corporate parent and distribution synergies.
• Bahco: European hand tool manufacturer (Snap-on owned) with agricultural shears, secateurs, and cutting tools. Directly comparable sheep shear heritage and professional-grade positioning in similar product categories.
• DeWit: Dutch family-owned manufacturer of forged garden hand tools since 1898. Comparable artisanal heritage, premium positioning, and overlapping product range of trowels, forks, weeders, and specialty hand tools.
• Spear & Jackson: UK-based garden tool and hand tool manufacturer with Sheffield heritage. Direct peer with overlapping product range (spades, forks, cutting tools) and similar heritage positioning in the UK garden retail channel.
• Sneeboer: Dutch family-owned manufacturer of hand-forged stainless steel garden tools. Comparable artisanal manufacturing approach, premium heritage positioning, and overlapping high-end hand tool customer segment.
• Joseph Bentley: Traditional UK garden tool brand with heritage positioning similar to Burgon & Ball. Direct competitor in the premium hand tool segment sold through UK garden centers and heritage stockists.
• Wolf-Garten: German garden tool brand specializing in hand tools, cutting tools, and multi-change systems. Comparable premium heritage positioning and overlapping European garden center distribution.

Broad incumbents

• Fiskars: Global leader in gardening and craft hand tools with broad portfolio across multiple price points and geographies. Competes with Burgon & Ball at premium and mid-range tiers through garden center and retail channels.
• Gardena: German-owned (Husqvarna Group) broad-line garden tool and watering brand with strong European retail presence. Overlaps with Burgon & Ball in hand tools, watering, and cutting categories but at more accessible price points.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/burgonandball
• Xx.com/burgonandball

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Burgon & Ball