In 1946, Norman Hatton opened up his first shop on 142 Smithdown Road in Liverpool, selling anything and everything that was in demand after the war. Gradually he found that toys and particularly model trains were forming the bulk of his business, and that by advertising, he could reach customers nation wide.
In 1958, Norman moved the shop to bigger premises at 180 Smithdown Road, and later expanded into 182 in 1999. In 2001, Hatton’s Model Railways moved further down the road to 364 - 368 Smithdown Road, where the shop remained until 2016.
Following the growing popularity of the internet, in 1999 www.hattons.co.uk was created. This site included an A to Z listing of all the stock to be ordered by mail and in store, as well as a sign up for a weekly newsletter. With good feedback from customers, and the increasing trend of buying and selling online, in 2002 Hatton’s own online selling platform was introduced on www.ehattons.com.
Ehattons.com quickly became one of the biggest online ecommerce sites for selling model railway items, and in 2015 alone the site had over 1.2 million unique visitors, who placed more than 90,000 orders at a value of £7.3m.
When Norman retired in 1998, his son Keith Hatton took over the running of the business, assisted by his sister, Christine. Keith Hatton was born in 1959, and died, aged 48, in September 2008. At the time of his death Keith had been responsible for Hatton’s emergence as the leading independent retailer in the sector in which we operate. Following the death of her brother in 2008, Keith’s sister Christine has stepped up to the mantle to take over the reigns of running the firm, along with our CEO, Richard Davies.
Throughout 70 years of trading, Hatton’s Model Railways has undergone several changes and expansions in order to keep up with the increase in demand and customer’s growing love and passion for model railways.
When Norman retired in 1998, his son Keith took over the running of the business, assisted by his sister, Christine.
Keith Hatton was born in 1959, and died, aged 48, in September 2008. At the time of his death Keith had been responsible for Hattons emergence as the leading independent retailer in the sector which we operate in.
Following the death of her brother in 2008, Keith's sister Christine has stepped up to the mantle to take over the reigns of running the firm.
Christine is determined for the growth and development of the business to continue in the manner it had done before the death of her father, Norman and brother, Keith.
