| Wilkins and Mitchell Limited became one of
Darlaston's leading engineering companies, employing
over 1,000 people. The family business in Richards
Street produced machine tools and power presses, for
either hot or cold pressing. They can be found in factories throughout
the world. It all started in 1904 when two
friends, Walter Wilkins and Tom Mitchell set
themselves up in business in a small factory in Bell
Street, owned by nut and bolt maker Charles
Richards. 29 years old Walter had previously been
the head designer at Samuel Platts in Wednesbury,
and 35 years old Tom had a strong passion for
engineering, together with a great deal of technical
expertise, and the willingness to work hard for long
hours.
The pair purchased several pieces of machinery
for their factory including a borer, an eight foot
planer, a milling machine, a slotting machine, a
twelve inch gap lathe, and a vertical drilling
machine. Their very first job was to repair the
Council’s steam roller.
They soon received their first order for a piece
of machinery. It came from Rubery Owen and consisted
of several drilling machines. Around the same time
they received an order from Charles Richards for
stripping machines and a bolt heading machine. The
two friends soon formed a close relationship with
both companies.
Their bolt heading machine was the most advanced
machine of its type, being considerably smaller than
the competition and about half the price.
1907 proved to be a landmark year for the company
in two ways. First of all they received their first
order for machinery from a railway company,
something that would become a common occurrence in
years to come, providing the company with a regular
income. The order, from the Birmingham Carriage
Company was for a slot milling machine. The second
milestone was an order from Rubery Owen for a
blanking press. Walter designed the press to operate
hydraulically, with all of the hydraulic components
being made in-house. As a result Wilkins and
Mitchell would go on to become one of the leading
manufacturers of power presses. They soon produced a
similar machine for Thompsons. |
 |
The map opposite shows the
approximate location of Phoenix Works in Bell Street.
Walter
Wilkins rented Phoenix works from Charles Richards.
Walter's 3rd
son Henry Wilkins married Joyce Winn, daughter of W.
Martin Winn.
If anyone
has any further information please
send me an
email. |
| The following year Walter and Tom built the first
British multi-head sole-bar drilling machine for the
Birmingham Carriage Company, a product that would prove
to be popular for the next 25 years. By this time the
workforce had grown to two fitters, and an apprentice;
Tom’s son Joe. 1908 would be a memorable year in
another way. Walter Wilkins had become a great friend of
Charles Richards and his family, and had fallen in love
with his daughter Louisa. Before the year was out they
were married, and the company’s employees were given an
hour off to attend their boss’s wedding. |
| A photograph of some of the
workers at Phoenix Works in Bell Street, in the late
1920s. The second from
the left in the middle row is John Gibbons.
Courtesy of Brian Groves. |
 |
 |
Another photograph taken at
Phoenix Works, possibly at the same time as the one
above.
The first lady on the left in
the middle row is Mary Gibbons.
Courtesy of Brian Groves. |
|
Expansion
By 1910 business was booming. There
were so many orders that they couldn’t cope in the
cramped conditions at the Bell Street factory. Luckily
the solution was at hand. Darlaston Green Works were
available at the time and so Wilkins and Mitchell
acquired the factory and renamed it “Phoenix Works”. At
the time they were receiving a lot of orders for special
machinery from railway carriage and wagon companies.
In 1911 Walter Wilkins and Alfred
Owen senior conceived the idea of a massive forming
press to cold press vehicle chassis frames, so
revolutionising production. Chassis frames were made
from around 10 gauge steel and until that time had been
pressed hot. Although several similar presses were in
use in the U.S.A. nothing on this scale had been
attempted here. Walter’s design used a similar hydraulic
system to the one that he developed in 1907 for the
blanking press. The press, costing a mere £2,000 was
installed at Rubery Owen’s Darlaston factory in August
1913 and became an immediate success. It worked so well
that it continued in operation until 1970, and can be
seen today at the Black Country Living Museum.
Some earlier Wilkins and Mitchell’s
machines including a mechanical shear were still in use
at Rubery Owen’s factory until 1960, clearly
demonstrating the reliability of the company’s products. |
| The company's first 1,500 ton "upstroking"
press that was installed at Rubery Owen's Darlaston works in
August 1913.
It ran until 1970 and cold
pressed lorry chassis by raising steel blanks that were
pressed into the correct shape. |

The press
at the Black Country Living Museum, Dudley. |
|
A
Trip to America
The success of the huge press and
the close relationship between Walter Wilkins and Alfred
Owen led to them to go on a fact finding tour of the
U.S.A. to explore the latest developments in machine
tools. Walter had always been impressed with American
engineering and their seven week tour would provide them
with plentiful opportunities to examine the latest
machines.
It nearly ended in disaster because
they booked their passage on a brand new luxury ship,
RMS Titanic, but luckily last minute business
commitments forced them to delay their departure. Had
they not done so, the history of manufacturing in
Darlaston would have been very different, with the
possible loss of two of the town’s most important
manufacturers.
Thanks to the delay they sailed on
RMS Lusitania and after arriving safely visited many of
the leading American machine tool manufacturers. They
also inspected some of the factories belonging to the
largest vehicle manufacturers including Ford, General
Motors, and Studebaker. As a result of their successful
tour Alfred Owen conceived the idea of producing vehicle
chassis and other motor components for British vehicle
manufacturers at highly competitive prices. Similarly
Wilkins and Mitchell would go on to build competitively
priced, state of the art machines for the same
manufacturers.
The
War Years
For the first two years or so of
the war, the manufacture of special purpose machine
tools and presses continued much as before, except that
production had to be greatly increased to keep-up with
the demands of the munitions industry.
At the beginning of the war Wilkins
and Mitchell employed between 60 and 70 people who
worked flat out to supply the needs of their customers.
Unfortunately the constant pressure to keep up with the
demand for the company’s products became too much for
Tom Mitchell who broke down under the strain and retired
to Blackpool.
Walter Wilkins also came under a
lot of pressure. Apart from the day-to-day running of
the company, he became involved in other work. He was
asked to go to the War Office in London to assist in
vital war work. As a result he became a consulting
design engineer, assisting Dr. Frank Lanchester in the
design of a compact transmission for tanks that would
allow more room inside for the crew. As a result he
built an experimental tank at the Birmingham Carriage
Company.
He also carried out consultancy
work for other companies, which resulted in him dashing
all over the country. In 1916 his work load increased
even more when Wilkins and Mitchell designed and built
their largest press to-date. Walter was so hard pressed
that he even had 3 or 4 draughtsmen working in his
dining room at home, in order to complete the job on
time. The hydraulically operated press was delivered to
Rubery Owen in June.
By 1916 Wilkins and Mitchell were
also producing other war work including drag lines for
artillery, fuse caps, and gear trains for tanks. The
company also machined cradles for 18lb. field guns and
for naval 12lb. anti-aircraft guns, for Wolsley Motors,
at the time a subsidiary of Vickers-Armstrong. Walter
revolutionised the production by making it far more
efficient. At Vickers-Armstrong one man took 120 hours
to machine a single gun cradle. Walter reduced this time
to just 12 hours by using three men to operate machines
and jigs of his own design. This meant that 10 of the
much needed gun cradles could be machined in the time
that it previously took to do just one.
Wilkins and Mitchell also began to
produce the ‘Lightening’ car jack, which Walter had
previously designed in about 1912. He originally set his
brother George up in business to manufacture the jacks
in a small factory at Moxley in partnership with John
Richards. During the war production was transferred to
Phoenix Works.
After the War
The company, like many others had
greatly prospered thanks to the plentiful supply of
wartime Government contracts. Walter Wilkins realised
that the contracts would abruptly end when hostilities
ceased, and that large quantities of cheap machine tools
would be put-up for sale when they were no longer
required for war work. Something had to be found to tide
the company over until things returned to normal. |
|

A 300 ton double sided power press. |
As a result he arranged to build
mechanical stokers for Vickers-Spearing, a subsidiary of
Vickers-Armstrong who had a good relationship with
Wilkins and Mitchell thanks to their work on the gun
cradles.
The mechanical stokers consisted of
wide endless belts that slowly revolved and transported
coal from a hopper to the furnace at one end, then
carried out the burnt ash at the other.
The contract nicely filled-in the
gap at the end of the Government orders, and provided a
smooth transition from war to peacetime work.
There was an 18 month backlog of
orders to get through. At the same time new orders were
arriving, mainly for specialised drilling machines for
Railway wagon and carriage companies.
Many of the orders were for
sole-bar drilling machines, some of which were 50ft.
machines. Other orders were for hydraulic presses, used
in the production of heavy lorry chassis. |
|
New
Products
Walter Wilkins was as prolific as
ever. He had a small experimental workshop at home in
which to develop new products, and even designed and
made a special drawing board for use in bed, so that if
an idea occurred to him during the night he could
instantly put it on paper. |
|
He began to develop a rotary valve
V8 petrol engine, but unfortunately never completed the
work because of lack of time. He also designed a
multi-head group drill, an early form of automated
machine tool. A number of them were sold to the
Hotchkiss Motor Company, the manufacturer of engines for
Morris. Another of his inventions was the under-drive
press.
In 1928 Walter’s eldest son, John,
joined the company as an apprentice pattern maker,
earning two pounds a week. Within a few years his three
brothers Henry, Edward, and Philip would also join the
family business. Walter became interested in the
Rotarian movement, and along with a few friends founded
the Rotary Centre in Wednesbury.
Around 1926 Walter turned his
attention to washing machines, which he considered would
be a good addition to Wilkins and Mitchell’s product
range to ensure the future growth of the company. In the
spring of 1930 he took his family on a tour of the
U.S.A. and while there he visited several factories
including a couple that made washing machines. When the
family returned home the Wilkins boys attempted to
perfect their prototype washing machine. They had
initial problems with the drive, but once they had
successfully tried a ‘V’ belt, they were on to a winner. |

Courtesy of Mark Foster. |
|

Courtesy of Mark Foster. |
The new machine was launched at the
Ideal Home Exhibition and the Preston Agricultural Show.
By that time Walters’s sons Henry and Edward had joined
the company and greatly assisted in selling the machines
at exhibitions.
During the recession in the 1930s
the washing machines helped the company to keep going.
The demand for machine tools fell and so workers from
that part of the business were temporarily used to
tool-up for mass production of washing machines. At the
height of the recession the company made a small loss,
but still managed to keep going.
Luckily the recession only lasted a
few years and things soon returned to normal. By the end
of the decade Wilkins and Mitchell were starting to
concentrate on the power press side of the business,
products that are still well-known today. |
|
The late 1970s and early 1980s
were a difficult time for the company due to falling
orders. Unfortunately in the early 1980s Wilkins and
Mitchell found itself in receivership, but this was
not to be the end of the story.
In 1982 the
newly formed UK manufacturing group, Verson
International run by American businessman Tim Kelleher
acquired Wilkins and Mitchell from the receiver.
The group’s main companies were Wilkins and Mitchell,
and Bronx Engineering of Lye, who were acquired in 1986.
By the late
1980s group sales were approaching £40 million and a
good future seemed ensured. In 1987 profits were
£750,000, compared with £176,000 in 1986, and this
steady growth continued for some time.
Tim Kelleher
removed the barriers between the shop floor and the
management team. He believed that the company’s main
asset was the skilled workforce. Director’s dining rooms
were closed, their privileges were removed, and all
non-essential company cars were sold. A manager could
loose his job if he didn’t know every employee by his or
her first name. |

A large power press. |
|

Assembling a gearbox for the Cable
Belt Company in the 1980s. |
At Darlaston the
group planned to build a new larger factory for Wilkins
and Mitchell on a 15 acre site in Willenhall Road,
formerly occupied by Wellman Cranes. The existing
Richards Street works would house a new specialised
fabrications company.
The new factory
with a workforce of nearly 300, cost £6 million and was
opened on 28th November, 1990 by John Major. The company’s Managing Director
was George Paxton, who previously ran Verson AI in
Inverness.
The company name
changed to Verson Wilkins, and by the end of 1990 orders
for power presses reached nearly £7 million. The orders
included a huge 2,650 tonne trimming press for a forge
in Lincoln, the largest power press built by the company
at that time. Many of the orders that followed were for
vehicle manufacturers, including Nissan at Tyne & Wear;
A.C. Rochester who were part of General Motors; and a
huge 3,000 tonne “try out” press for Toyota. |
|
Unfortunately
the fortunes of UK car manufacturers were on the wane
and orders fell. By the middle of 1993 Verson
International was £3.5 million in the red, not helped by
a very significant loss at Verson Wilkins. As a result
the group merged with Clearing UK and reduced its
product range.
The Darlaston subsidiary now became known
as Clearing International. In November, 1994 about 70
jobs were shed at Darlaston and the future looked very
uncertain. Quite a stir was caused in the works in
December of that year when the factory became the
location for the American film crew who were shooting a
film about the Iraqi super gun entitled “The Doomsday
Gun”.
In 1995 about
half the employees lost their jobs at the Darlaston
works when the workforce was greatly reduced. At the
time they were producing presses from 300 to 1,500
tonnes as standard, and up to 2,500 tonnes to special
order. The company also refurbished their old products.
By 1996 the deficit amounted to £5.8 million and the
group decided to sell Darlaston based Clearing
International. The Darlaston company then formed a
partnership with Scarborough based Bootham Engineering
but the downturn in the motor manufacturing industry
continued and so the decision was taken to close the
Darlaston factory. |

Courtesy of Mark Foster. |
|

Courtesy of Mark Foster. |
As a result the factory closed,
with the loss of 64 jobs, on 2nd April, 1999. Another nail in the coffin
for Darlaston’s manufacturers, who were once known
throughout the world for their quality products.
The story doesn't quite end there. After the closure of
the Darlaston works, Bootham
Engineering moved its offices to Bloxwich. In
2003 the company was taken over by Muller Weingarten UK
Limited, and in October 2005 the company moved to
Quayside Drive in Walsall. In March 2008, Muller
Weingarten UK Ltd and Schuler UK merged to form the new
company Schuler Presses UK Limited. The company services
and supports Wilkins and Mitchell presses. |

Courtesy of Mark Foster.

Courtesy of Mark Foster.
|
Wilkins and Mitchell's other factory at Darlaston Road
manufactured Servis washing machines. The company,
Servis Limited was founded in 1929 and became a
successful manufacturer, producing large numbers of
machines with a large workforce. In the 1950s Servis were at
the expensive end of the market along with such names as
Bosch. The company gained a reputation for
reliability and in the 1980s were amongst the first
washing machines in the world to use microprocessor
control, in the successful "Quartz" range. The company
got into difficulties during the recession in the late
1980s and went into liquidation in March 1989. A new
company Servis UK was formed in November 1990 and
purchased by Antonio Merloni in 1991.
Manufacturing ceased at the works which became a
spare parts centre, and dealt with repairs. The factory
closed in October, 2008. |

An advert from 1963. |
 |
The Servis Quartz 1000 Deluxe
microprocessor controlled machine that's on display at
the Black Country Living Museum, Dudley. |

The empty Servis factory in November 2008.
I would like to thank Mark Foster of Schuler Presses UK Limited for
his help in telling this story. He kindly provided the information
about the company up to the Second World War, and many of the
illustrations. I would also like to thank Bill Rayson who worked at
the company for 36 years.
 |
Return to
the
previous page |
|