Winget
The (U.K) Winget Concrete Machine Co Ltd., of 10 Star Buildings, Newcastle-upon-Tyne (1910)
Winget Limited engineers, ironfounders and machine builders, of Warwick (1924)
of Rochester (1953)
1908 Company founded.
1911 Showed concrete block making machine at the Building Exhibition[1]
1920 Showed machinery for handling material and making in concrete blocks at the Darlington Agricultural Show.
1924 Private company: Winget (1924) Ltd; foundry and engineering works at The Cape, Warwick[2]. The Winget system of modular building used concrete pillars and panels.
1928 Name changed to Winget Ltd
1953 Company made public. Main premises at Rochester. Subsidiary company Winget-Syncro which marketed machinery made by the parent for making non-ferrous and steel wires and cables[3].
1957 Acquired a controlling interest in Moores Plant, equipment distributors and hirers to the construction industry in the London area[4]. Winget Refrigeration Ltd took over the development and marketing of refrigeration products[5].
1961 Acquired Hanson and Edwards, an old established business in the wire rope and cable industry
1961 Manufacturers of machinery and plant for building, civil engineering and precast concrete product industries; machines and equipment for non-ferrous wire and cable making industries; refrigeration equipment for quick freezing and storing, including equipment for refrigeration vans and cold stores and meehanite iron high quality engineering castings. 1,750 employees. [6]
1961 Acquired Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Co with effect from 29 December. The new parent company was called Winget Gloucester Ltd. The Gloucester subsidiary was renamed Gloucester Engineering Co and a new company called Winget Ltd was established for the Rochester operation.
1962 On 1 April, the trading activities of Gardners of Gloucester and E. Boydell and Co of Manchester, which operated under the trading name of Muir Hill, were transferred to Gloucester to make better use of the factory space[7].
1962 Acquired Larmuth and Bulmer of Salford, which was engaged in production of stranding machinery. Sold Joseph Kaye and Sons, maker of railway carriage locks, to Associated Fire Alarms Ltd. Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Co's work was being reduced because of lack of profitability in its contracts[8].
1963 The trading activities of Moxey were similarly transferred from 1 April, following its acquisition by Winget Gloucester Ltd.
1964 Reorganisation of the group's structure occurred with effect from 1 April - the Gloucester and Rochester works started to operate as one company, Winget Ltd[9]. To further integrate the activities of the manufacturing companies in the group, divisional boards of directors were set up responsible for the sales and engineering aspects of the operations:
- The contracts and industrial equipment division included Winget, William Gardner and Sons, Moxey, and Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Co.
- The cable and wire mill machinery equipment division included Winget, Hanson and Edwards, and Larmuth and Bulmer
- The building and civil engineering construction equipment division included Winget, E. Boydell and Co, and Slater and England.
- Gloucester Foundry, Hatherley Works and a subsidiary of the original Winget Ltd, Moores Plant, remained outside this divisional structure.
1968 From 1 April, Winget Gloucester became a wholly owned subsidiary of Babcock and Wilcox.
See Also
Sources of Information
- The Engineer of 9th July 1920