thornes are a double edge sword most people find that they are good to middling for many items.
the history is that in the 1980's thornes went around buying up all the competition to get rid of them and to buy there pattents to ,
the couple who now own and run thornes are now going towards there retirement and there kids dont want anything to do with the family business
when you go to a shop most are under stocked because they have been completly caught out with the increase in beekeeping ,but that excuse was started four years ago and they should be ontop of it by now surely!!!
personal i get they feeling they are just running the company down to crash it or to sell it off at a reduced rate to someone else. most of the pattents are now finished so there is no real money any more
personaly i buy wax from kbs, not the cheapest but i like the quality
frames come from maisemore but i buy them when in france not gloucester as i get a better rate in europe than in the uk.
most other item comes from a polish or german supply , again mainly we have a long weekend in europe and come back, with a car full of junk as the wife likes to call it
there are so many firms that are willing to deal with me in all parts of the world, a small incompetent firm at winsor just passes me by,
even if i lived next door i would not use them as they are so exspensive and i find there quality very lacking.
ask around the forum there are many fantastic wood hive makers here that do so wonderfull quality stuff for a very reasonable amount of money, and i am sure many people have better places to buy stuf from