Winget Gloucester
1961 Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Co owned the Gloucester Foundry, William Gardner and Sons, Joseph Kaye and Sons, Wright and Martin (renamed GRCW in 1961), Hatherley Works, Gloucester Wagon Hiring Co, and was a major shareholder in Wagon Repairs.
1961. 29 December: The Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Co was acquired by Winget of Rochester, Kent. The new parent company was called Winget Gloucester Ltd. The main business in Gloucester was renamed Gloucester Engineering Co but Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Co continued to carry out its existing contracts. The firm in Rochester was still known as Winget Ltd.
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[1].
1962 Acquired Larmuth and Bulmer of Salford[2], 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[3].
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[4]. 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
Souces of Information
- [1] A History of the Gloucester Wagon Works