Pegler Brothers and Co
of St Enoch's Square, Glasgow (Merchants) and of Belmont Works, Doncaster.
1899 Gavin Goudie, agent for Northern Rubber Co in Glasgow, seeing an opportunity to provide equipment to the marine industry, invited his friend John Cameron, who had an engineering background, to join him in business. Financial support was provided by the Pegler Brothers, Frank Pegler and Stephen, and the new business was called Pegler Brothers and Co.
1900 Fred Birchall learned of John Cameron's initiative and approached Frank Pegler with the idea of starting a brass foundry and machine shop in Doncaster to make certain fittings connected with steam services, to be supplied mainly to the marine industry through the Pegler's merchandising company.
Using the latest methods at the time Peglers soon expanded from manufacturing products for the steam industry to manufacturing other complex valves. One of the catalysts for this expansion was the screw down tap. The tap was invented in 1845 but had not been successfully mass-produced before Pegler's inception.
1904 Even though the manufacturing business was not very profitable, they decided to expand and bought land at Balby on which was built the Belmont Works. These works are still at the heart of Pegler's modern seven acre site.
By 1911 Stephen Pegler had retired[1]
1913 Fred Birchall wanted to have the most advanced factory in the country and took a trip to the United States in order to look at, what was then, the world's most advanced manufacturing companies. On his return he introduced revolutionary manufacturing techniques such as the capstan lathe and the pneumatic chuck.
1914 Pegler Brothers and Co (Doncaster) Ltd was incorporated as a Limited Company. The directors were Frank Pegler, Francis Egerton Pegler, Fred Birchall and Andrew Birchall. J. C. Allenby, the company's London representative, joined a few weeks later.
1914 Pegler Bros and Company (Glasgow) Limited was incorporated as a separate company.
WWI. Peglers switched to making shell fuses and shell sockets. A new subsidiary, Yorkshire Aeroplane Co was registered in 1916 but only completed its first Sopwith fighter plane in 1918.
After the war the factory resumed production of water fittings, steam and radiator valves with even more technically advanced production methods being introduced. Steam power was replaced by electric power. A more sophisticated quality control system was introduced and carefully designed packaging brought products to customers in perfect condition - a concept well ahead of its time.
1922 Directors: F. Pegler (Chairman) F. Birchall (Managing), A. Birchall (Assistant Managing). Specialities: — Gun-metal valves for steam, hot water, etc, and sanitary brassfoundry.
c.1930 John Louden became managing director of Pegler Brothers
1931 In order to distinguish between the Glasgow and Doncaster businesses, the Glasgow company was renamed Pegler and Louden.
1932 The company was renamed Peglers Ltd.
1935 Peglers Ltd was floated as a public company[2]
See Also
Sources of Information
- The Pegler-Hattersley Group. An historical review 1871-1971, by Hubert C. Nicholson, 1974