About Us

Established in 1976 on the Black Isle, Bonk & Co is a family-run business.  Now in its third generation, we are the longest established wood burning and multi fuel stove retailer in Scotland.  Bonk & Co is currently run by Company Director Andrew Dolby and his son, Alex Dolby.

So how did it all start and where does the name ‘Bonk & Co’ come from?

It’s all thanks to William Dolby (a proud ‘patriarch’ of the Dolby clan) whose childhood nickname was ‘Billy Bonk’ - after a popular newspaper comic character.  Whilst felling trees on his own father’s farm, William started his first business transporting timber under the Bonk moniker.  By the 1970s, after Dutch Elm disease struck followed by an oil crisis/shortage, William launched a wood burning stove business in his garage on the Black Isle.  And so Bonk & Co was officially born.

From that point onwards, Bonk & Co’s growth, in a very new market, was helped by its early-formed working relationship with wood burning stove manufacturer Charnwood, who at the time were a small British engineering firm established a few years prior to Bonk & Co). Back then, the wood burning stove industry was very small but this allowed Bonk & Co and Charnwood to develop a close working relationship to ultimately reach the same goal: to produce and sell the best wood burning stoves for our customers!

Sharing his father’s passion, Andrew has been involved in the business from the age of 16.  During the 80s, Andrew joined Bonk & Co full time and opened a showroom in Inverness city centre.  The highlands provided a perfect backdrop for supplying good quality, economic wood burning and multi-fuel stoves and the company continues to trade from Inverness today.  It houses a brilliant and knowledgeable team who have work alongside Andrew for almost two decades.

Andrew’s son, Alex, also developed the same passion for wood burning stoves from an early age.  By 14 years old, Alex was working part time in his Fathers showroom.  By his late teens, Alex was bursting with new ideas for the family business and, having built up a sound knowledge of the wider stove industry, Alex successfully opened Bonk & Co Edinburgh in April 2011 where he works alongside new member of the Bonk & Co team.

Over the course of three decades, and thanks to second and third generations of returning customers, Bonk & Co has grown into the thriving business it is today and now employs over 10 members of William Dolby’s direct family.  We like to think the reason for our success is simple: we love what we do.  We put all our energy, passion and knowledge into helping each customer find the perfect product – which can mean anything from a small log basket to a brand new stove.

Bonk & Co, a third generation family business, was established on the Black Isle in 1976 and is now one of Scotland’s leading retailers of wood burning and multi fuel stoves.

Company Director Andrew Dolby, manages Bonk Inverness.  When he took over from his father in 1987, Andrew moved the business into Inverness city centre where it continued to thrive.  In the mid-1990s, Bonk & Co expanded again and moved to Longman Industrial Estate in Inverness, from where the business still trades. Working alongside Andrew in Bonk & Co Inverness are Jeanne, Miriam and Anna in the sales team, Carol who deals with finances and technical adviser John.

Andrew’s son, Alex, developed a passion for stoves from an early age and now manages Bonk’s new Edinburgh showroom. He began working part-time for Bonk at the age of 14 and has since built up a sound knowledge of his family business and the wider stove industry. Alex opened Bonk Edinburgh showroom in April 2011 and introduced a new member to the team, Christine, who handles admin and sales.