Erik Ohlson Erik Ohlson Sir Erik Olof Ohlson, 1st Baronet (19 July 1873 – 20 March 1934) was a Swedish-born British shipping magnate and coal and timber merchant. Ohlson was a son of a farmer in the village of Oppeby in Fellingsbro parish, Sweden. He spent ten years in the coal importing business in Sweden. In 1902, he emigrated to Hull, England, and established the firm of Ohlson & Co, shipowners and brokers, coal exporters, and timber importers. He was knighted in 1915 and created a Baronet, of Scarborough, in the 1920 New Year Honours for his efforts to bring Sweden into
Payless DIY larger range of materials. The initial phase used premises such as converted car sales showrooms, mostly in High Street locations. As the formula became increasingly popular with the public and Britain enjoyed a DIY boom in the '80s, new-builds were commissioned on trading estates where much larger premises could be built and garden centres could be incorporated. The High Street shops were gradually closed. In 1985, Marley decided to concentrate on their manufacturing businesses and sold Payless DIY to the Ward White Group. Ward White which also owned Halfords, injected extra funds for expansion and left the existing board in