CW Tents was formed in April 1992 by two friends, Hilary Cooper and Paul Willis as a tent hire company who specialised in the hiring of family frame tents. In july of 1992 we moved into Unit 10 at Backworth Business Park and Paul began working full time on developing the business which included working closely with Durham Mountaineering and Lichfield Tents.

In 1994 we took on the Unit 9A converting this into our showroom and Unit 10 as our warehouse. We were now selling more tents than hiring them, and sales of clothing, sleeping bags, boots, rucksacks were doubling year on year.

In 1998 Neil Robinson joined the business as a retail assistant and today works closely with Paul continuing the growth of the business.

From day one we have concentrated on supplying quality items at competitive prices specialising in working with youth clubs, Scouts, Guides, Duke of Edinburgh Units and schools etc. to this day all our staff are or have been youth workers specialising in camping and light weight expeditions.

In 1999 we acquired units 8, 9 and 11 converting 8 into a showroom and 9 and 11 into workshops and storage.

During 2001 Northumberland Scout and Guide Shop closed and we began selling Scout and Guide uniforms. We are now without doubt the largest supplier of uniforms and badges for the The Scout Association in the Northeast.

In 2003 we took on another warehouse, unit 6 for extra storage, we believe that customers prefer items to be in stock rather than having to wait if at all possible. This also meant we needed another staff member and Les Smith joined the full time staff in 2002.

Paul his wife Bev and business partner Hilary are only to aware of the debt they owe to a number of good friends and staff who have helped them to continue to help them develop C W Tents into one of the top outdoor suppliers in the North East of England.