Author Topic: companies that have gone in Birmingham  (Read 90573 times)

Ian Dalziel

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Re: companies that have gone in Birmingham
« Reply #209 on: January 28, 2017, 01:11:31 PM »
Is it not, not only sad,,but also worrying that so many big names have disappeared from just one area.   I remember from my time at Cannings we dealt with so many of them.
Perhaps if Brexit actually happens, it will pay us to start manufacturing again instead of bringing in so much from Asia.
Bob Davis


Let's make the best out of a bad situation.

Ian Dalziel

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Re: companies that have gone in Birmingham
« Reply #210 on: January 28, 2017, 01:28:23 PM »



Hi Bob
 
 
 It's already happening on a small scale due to the devaluing pound. I spoke to a manufacturer a couple of days ago who said that he had sourced castings in this country because China is getting expensive.
 
 
 Also, if a custom-free deal can not be reached with the EU then I predict that companies in the EU might want to set up factories here in order to avoid export taxes on goods they would normally send to us, especially if import duty collected is channelled back to the exporters as I suspect has been promised to Nissan in Sunderland.
 
 
 Also, if we are able to reach a custom-free deal with the USA, then there might be an additional incentive for EU companies to set up branches here.
 
 
 Exciting times, or am I just a pipe dreaming dinosaur?
Let's make the best out of a bad situation.

Whitty

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Re: companies that have gone in Birmingham
« Reply #211 on: January 28, 2017, 01:57:44 PM »
Ian , yourve hit it on the nail  O0
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mikejee

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Re: companies that have gone in Birmingham
« Reply #212 on: January 28, 2017, 02:17:14 PM »
Ian
Surely the duties on British cars etc imposed after Beexit will be imposed by the EU, so it is scarcely likely they will pay them back to British producers. Certainly May (or as Trump would say Maye) would have no influence on it

Spud

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Re: companies that have gone in Birmingham
« Reply #213 on: January 28, 2017, 02:37:23 PM »
Just going back to Dom's post about Northbridge Enginering and Phil's Comments a concerning Clifford Covering in Hall green. I knew both companies quite well for over 50 years. I fact I had a couple interviews for a job with Cliffords some years ago.
Both companies were in the same group but were ran quite separately. Clifford's line was Steering Wheels and Northbridge Manufactured special bolts for they Aircraft Industry. I visited their site in Wigston Leicester many times during my working life. My old memory may be being stretched a bit but I am fairly certain that Northbridge Enginering joined forces with another specialist Bolt manufacture in Birmingham, namely Linread.
Like my old Company Lucas Aerospace Cliffords were taken under the wing of TRW. In fact for 17 years or so TRW paid my Company pension. They got in to such a mess in almost folded. It was only when the parent company pumped Tens of Millions of pound into the fund the scheme survived. They eventually sold on the scheme to L&G in 2015.
TRW was then taken over in 2015 by a German Automotive Company ZF Friedrichshafen by this time Lucas Aerospace had a number of owners and it was around this time that Rolls Royce Engines took over the Lucas Aerospace sites in Shaftmoor Lane and York Road. Lucas Aerospace was in fact one of Rolls Royce's biggest suppliers. Both Shaftmoor Lane and the York Road sites are now in the process of being run down and are moving to new premises on the Bimingham Business Park not far from Birmingham Airport
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Ian Dalziel

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Re: companies that have gone in Birmingham
« Reply #214 on: January 28, 2017, 02:38:43 PM »
Ian
Surely the duties on British cars etc imposed after Beexit will be imposed by the EU, so it is scarcely likely they will pay them back to British producers. Certainly May (or as Trump would say Maye) would have no influence on it


I was thinking that the duty we collect on EU goods imported could be channelled back as a rebate to our exporters to offset any duty imposed on them by the EU.
Let's make the best out of a bad situation.

Phil

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Re: companies that have gone in Birmingham
« Reply #215 on: January 28, 2017, 02:57:28 PM »
Spud

Apparently Solomon Joseph's first venture into commerce was Tyseley Munitions after the end of WWI dismantling and defusing munitions. In 1939 he bought the bankrupt New Imperial Motors Motorcycle Company and renamed it Clifford Auto & Aero Ltd Group where he manufactured components for Spitfire & Lancaster aircraft. After the war he produced power pumps, washing machines, Whilst Clifford Cultivators Ltd produced rotary cultivators & Clifford Covering Ltd made steering wheels.
Phil died in 2020. RIP.

Spud

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Re: companies that have gone in Birmingham
« Reply #216 on: January 28, 2017, 03:02:14 PM »
Phil I would not disagree at all with what you say but most definitely Northbridge Engineering were in the same group as Clifford Covering and had a factory at Wigston like I said I visited them many times.
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expatbrummie

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Re: companies that have gone in Birmingham
« Reply #217 on: January 28, 2017, 08:15:12 PM »
Ian, Whitty & Co
Love all the comments and like some cotton weaving has returned to Lancashire so if May has her way, old long gone or taken over by foreign companies industries could be started up to make Britain truly Great again, however I do not believe for a minute that Merc, VW, Porsche, Renault!, Peugout, Citroen et al and the lorry and bus manufacturers are going to want to see anything happen that will stop them still sending their products to the UK, apart from the trains being built by Hitachi in Japan under the label Hotachi Europe, Siemends and CAV in Spain currently have large orders for British Rail companies and of course half of the rail franchises have foreign owners Arriva and the main freight company which was EWS now DB German owned.   It is going to be an interesting future whether we go or stay, because I am certain if we stay faceless beauracrats in Brussels will look to punish us.   By the way how are MG and Manganeze Bronze doing these days

Bob

Akatarawa

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Re: companies that have gone in Birmingham
« Reply #218 on: January 28, 2017, 10:27:34 PM »
Spud:
This photo is for you,  you may recognise some names and faces.  It is the Lucas Gas Turbine Equipment Ltd.farewell party for Dick Ifield in the Shaftmoor Lane canteen in 1947.

The moniker "Aerospace" didn't come until after I left.

Most or many of those people were still there in 1956 when I started, and tended to stay until they retired.

Len Miller at the front was Personnel Manager in my day, and Jack Steele also at the front was my boss later on, and good friend until he passed on.



GardenGerald

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Re: companies that have gone in Birmingham
« Reply #219 on: January 29, 2017, 12:18:01 PM »
See my threads about CETA. What you mention wll happen if we now stay in the EU.
Gerald.


 

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