Richard Dye
master brummie
Welcome to The Forum Jess, great folks here I hope you find what you are looking for. Lots of knowledge here, enjoy!
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Wilmot Breeden Limited
- Thread starter Astonian
- Start date
devonjim
master brummie
jessbreeden
Brummie babby
Thanks so much! i cant see which photo is being replied too, sorry, so the photo holding the trophy is John Hack and Sir John Hunt and the other photo with 2 men on the left and one man on the right and theres microphones is Miles Breeden on the right?
Thanks so much in advance!
Does anyone have any stories of Carl or his boys? Just putting together a book of our ancestory i am loving it!! so many stories and pictures!
Jess
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jessbreeden
Brummie babby
jessbreeden
Brummie babby
Thanks so much! somehow i had skipped the wikipedia page, just looked it up and it has some excellent info there, ill keep looking for a photo, thank you again for getting back to me!
Barrie Allsop
New Member
I did a commercial apprenticeship at Wilmot Breeden in Amington Road Tyesley between 1959 and 1964. They manufactured products such as bumpers, locks and mechanisms for the motor industry. During this time tabulators and comptometers were being replaced with early computers systems. Our Managing Director Miles Breeden bought one of these during a trip to the French subsidiary. The supplier was De La Rue Bull. I was one of two people who trained to be able to put together the complex plugboards that controlled the system. Miles also engaged consultants who convinced him that they could design a system that would enable the 'computer' to produce production schedules that would be used by the production team to work out demand for chrome plated bumpers for the week ahead. The system was based on complex mathematical formulae that were based on the car manufacturers earlier year's demand.
As with many such systems the equipment was not really up to such a complex application and so the resulting work schedules were greeted with much derision by the factory personnel who felt that they had a much better understanding of demand simply by knowledge and experience.
Once the directors realised that a more advanced computer system was needed they replaced the Bull equipment with an ICT 1900 series computer which had software based programs and large storage and processing capability. I was involved in the implementation of the new system but in the course of this activity ICT recruited me to join their Birmingham City office of sales and technical support staff
As with many such systems the equipment was not really up to such a complex application and so the resulting work schedules were greeted with much derision by the factory personnel who felt that they had a much better understanding of demand simply by knowledge and experience.
Once the directors realised that a more advanced computer system was needed they replaced the Bull equipment with an ICT 1900 series computer which had software based programs and large storage and processing capability. I was involved in the implementation of the new system but in the course of this activity ICT recruited me to join their Birmingham City office of sales and technical support staff
Richard Dye
master brummie
A typical piece of computer history/development! For those of us that lived through the development of THE computer, what Barrie so well described was typical of the times and in fact is still happening. Including Barrie being recruited away. I remember getting ready to install a new MRP operating system and the developers stressed that a “user” be responsible because they knew how & what, Barrie was a user that’s why he was recruited. Sorry a little off topic but a very real part of our history.
brummie2024
New Member
Hi All, it's a long shot but does anyone remember Jean Black she worked at Wilmot Breedon on Westwood Road around 1960s to 1980s as far as I am aware Jean worked in the offices.
Many thanks
Many thanks
devonjim
master brummie
Hi, Don't remember a WB in Westwood Rd, (near to Sutton Park?)
brummie2024
New Member
Thank you very much for getting back to me.
Forgive me, i am only receiving third hand information and I think some wires must be crossed somewhere so I will have to do a bit more research sorry.
Shemmie
New Member
My Mom was PA to one of the Breedon's, (Margaret Gee). She talked about a trip back on the private plane from France, due to food poisoning, and that she was there during the deployment of "one of the UK's first computers".
She started off in the typing pool, and progressed to PA. She fell in love with a chap who worked there -- he held the patent for the gas-strut on the car boot; gentleman by the name of Jan, I believe. Sadly the relationship fell through, and Mom moved on from WB.
Chris Weeks
New Member
Just seen this website. In 1970 I used to work at Wilmot Breeden Truflo, on the corner of Goodman Street and King Edwards Road. I was mainly doing test work on automotive fans, using a wind tunnel, which had to be constructed individually for the various sizes of fan, which ranged from 8" to 42" diameter. We also did testing of valves, mainly for the petrochemical industry. I see on Google Maps that the building is still there.
devonjim
master brummie
There was a lab at WB Umberslade that did test work on automotive fans. Early 1960's.
devonjim
master brummie
I remember a Jan who liked his fast cars can't recall his surname, think it was Polish sounding?
Shemmie
New Member
That's quite possibly the one, yes - I know he was a Polish-Jewish gentleman!
I worked in the offices at Amington Road, for the Chief Accountant, Arthur Roberts
He was instrumental in the setting up of a new ICT computer. I only remember Miles Breeden working from there, and his secretary was Maureen Tipping. This was in the 60s.
devonjim
master brummie
At the same time as Arthur Roberts other departmental heads included Don Kettle, John Given, Bill Hamilton and a Mr Houghton the only secretary I remember was a Sylvia Jackson (nee Clement).
Can’t remember that name. Directors I remember were Mr Cross, Mr Boggon, Mr Houghton, Mr Wheatley, Mr Rosbrook, Mr James., I remember John Given. He came from Lucas, I think. I only remember some of the secretaries’ surnames - Pat Jarrett, Sheila, Lynne, Dorothy.
My dad Victor Hunt (Vic) was a Bumper Polisher in H Block, my mom Beryl Edge assembled car door locks, mom's cousin Jim Gough worked in the drawing office and my brother Dave Hunt worked on the bumpers for a while.
Mom and dad met, whilst working at Amington Road
Dad was an excellent fisherman and we used to go to the sportsground at Elmdon to watch him fish the pools, he was always winning prizes.
I worked for Arthur Roberts during that time. Do you remember a Mr Towlson, and a Brian Atherton? Also, there was a guy from Sri Lanka who was so nice. Before the computer, there was a huge department of Hollerith punched cards operators and comptometer girls, run by a Marge Smith, as I recall.
devonjim
master brummie
There was a Jim Gough who worked in Apprentice Training, my brother lived in the bungalow at the sportsground, and I worked in the lock assembly dept. at Farringdon.
devonjim
master brummie
There were two outward bound schools, a sea school(Aberdovey) and a mountain school(Eskdale) where apprentices were sent. I never went to either but many did.
Hi all, this has been a fascinating read in all honesty. Great to see the history of Wilmot Breeden in such detail.
I am the Managing Director of Weston Body Hardware, so our history is linked with Peter Weston and Wilmot Breeden and I have learned lots of new things reading all this. We still produce the legacy parts that we did as part of Wilmot Breeden before Peter bought the locks, handles and latches division.
Again, a fascinating read. If anyone has more information specifically on the WBH break away from WB, I would love to hear about it.
I am the Managing Director of Weston Body Hardware, so our history is linked with Peter Weston and Wilmot Breeden and I have learned lots of new things reading all this. We still produce the legacy parts that we did as part of Wilmot Breeden before Peter bought the locks, handles and latches division.
Again, a fascinating read. If anyone has more information specifically on the WBH break away from WB, I would love to hear about it.
devonjim
master brummie
It is some fifty five years since I was at WB and that was after a period of eleven years working there. Rockwell took over not long after.
Perhaps you can tell us a little about WBH, who was Peter Weston, I remember they were in Redditch but some years ago I noticed a factory adjacent to M5 in Gloucestershire with the WBH name, any connection? Are you not now part of a German company?
My connections with WB are diminishing, we are getting old!
My mom's cousin Jim Gough worked in the Drawing Office at Amington Road, mom (Beryl Edge) used to assemble door locks, dad Vic Hunt) used to polish bumpers, handles and the Jaguars that sat on car bonnets and my brother Dave Hunt worked there for a while as well. We livfish aed in Berkeley Road East.
My dad used to fish up at the sports ground, so our house was full of stuff like desks (bureau), pouffes, clocks etc that were all from his winnings. I remember the first time I saw a colour tv, it was in the bar at the Sports Club.
devonjim
master brummie
I worked for a Jim Gough who was part of the apprentice training team, so probably not the same person, this was around 1960. I was a member of the door lock assembly supervision staff in the late 1960's while there I knew a couple of the polishers who played in WB cricket team and my brother was the groundsman/club steward at the Elmdon sports club and lived in the bungalow there at Elmdon.
Hi devonjim, we are part of the Happich Group which is primarily German-owned but has outlets, distribution networks and manufacturing sites all over Europe. It's been this way since 2014. But we still have a lot of autonomy here in Redditch, and the majority of our customers are not Happich-related. We still serve the same industries that we did back when WBH was created when the hardware side of WB was bought out by Peter Weston. But nowadays, we have also diversified into other industries too, making us less reliant on the automotive history we have. We still produce a lot of classic car hardware, like the original Mini hinges and boot and door handles, the leaping Jaguar cats, the DB4 Aston Martin door handles, and so on, but now we also produce hardware for JCB and off-highway, the generator market and the emerging electric vehicle sector. We also design solutions to our customers problems. It's a great company I am proud to be the MD of and I am proud of our history and the types of iconic products we still produce from original tooling today. We also have many product lines for the bus and coach industry which we assemble in Redditch as inter-company products which are sold by Happich as their mainstay premium products. The bus and coach market is their main income stream alongside rail and acoustic products. The factory you mention off the M5 is nothing to do with us. We are solely in Redditch and always have been. Thanks for the interest. Look us up online!!