Harold W Woods left school at the age of 13 to help the family as a pharmacy delivery boy, working in various jobs and industries before heading the highly successful stationery company Redmond Inglis. He then returned to his roots to start H.W. Woods in 1938. In its early years, H.W. Woods supplied local pharmacy products such as prescription and non-prescription medicines as well as sundries such as soaps, beauty products and giftware.

H.W. Woods developed Woods Cod Liver Oil, which became its leading product of the time, “helping Australian families remain vital and fight off colds and flus”. It sold well throughout the 40s and 50s as a forerunner for the popular fish oil trend that continues today.

H.W. Woods launched an over-the-counter sedative to promote calm and sleep. This popular product sold well into the 1980s when more modern active ingredients saw it replaced with a new product.

H.W. Woods consolidated its position as a pharmacy supplier and wholesaler, adding further products and lines to the expanding catalogue. Due to transport restrictions and the travel distances required in a country the size of Australia, offices and distribution centres were opened in every capital city.

Harold Woods passed the business on to his stepson David Shakespeare, who successfully ran the business for 25 years. As the world modernised and globalised, David steered the company through the digitisation of the workplace and the globalisation of the market at large. Many strategic decisions were made in this period such as recentralisation to a main distribution centre and a more specialised offering of niche products. This consolidated our business model and helped Woods to ride out the opening of the Australian market to international players. H.W. Woods continued to establish a position as the leader in over-the-counter sleep aids in Australia.

Harold Woods passed the business on to his stepson David Shakespeare, who successfully ran the business for 25 years. As the world modernised and globalised, David steered the company through the digitisation of the workplace and the globalisation of the market at large. Many strategic decisions were made in this period such as recentralisation to a main distribution centre and a more specialised offering of niche products. This consolidated our business model and helped Woods to ride out the opening of the Australian market to international players. H.W. Woods continued to establish a position as the leader in over-the-counter sleep aids in Australia.

Adam Shakespeare took the reins in 2007, the third generation of the family to do so. Adam has consolidated the company’s position despite multiple entries into the competitive space. H.W. Woods remains Australia’s pre-eminent supplier of over-the-counter sleep aids.