Table Of ContentA HISTORY OF GKN
By the same author
ACCOUNTANCY AND THE BRITISH ECONOMY 1840-1980:
The Evolution of Ernst & Whinney
*A HISTORY OF GKN: Volume 1, Innovation and Enterprise, 1759-1918
INDUSTRIAL ARCHITECTURE IN BRITAIN, 1750-1939
THE MEMOIRS OF EDWIN WATERHOUSE (editor)
*Also published by Macmillan
A HISTORY OF GKN
Volume 2
The Growth of a Business, 1918-45
Edgar Jones
M
Foreword by
David Lees MACMILLAN
© GKN plc 1990
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1990 978-0-333-44578-5
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission
of this publication may be made without written permission.
No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied
or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance
with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act
1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited
copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency,
33-4 Alfred Place, London WC1E 7DP.
Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to
this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and
civil claims for damages.
First published 1990
Published by
MACMILLAN ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL LTD
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 2XS
and London
Companies and representatives
throughout the world
Typeset by Footnote Graphics, Warminster, Wilts
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Jones, Edgar, 1953-
A history of GKN.
Vol. 2, The growth of a business, 1918-1945
1. Great Britain. Engineering industries
I. Title
338.7'62'000941
ISBN 978-1-349-09666-4 ISBN 978-1-349-09664-0 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-09664-0
Contents
List of Maps and Figures ix
List of Tables xi
List of Illustrations xiii
List of Colour Plates xvii
List of Abbreviations xix
Foreword by David Lees xxi
Acknowledgements xxiii
Chronology of Events xxv
Introduction xxix
PART I STEEL AND COAL IN SOUTH WALES, 1919-39 1
1 GKN and the Post-War Boom, Merger and Acquisitions,
1919-23 3
Merger with John Lysaght 4
Acquisitions in Engineering 7
Profits and Performance: 1918-23 8
Summary 9
2 John Lysaght Ltd 13
Part1,1857-1918 13
John Lysaght: Foundations of the Business 14
Profits and Performance: the 1880s, 1890s and 1900s 17
Changes in Management 21
St Vincent's Works and Netham, Bristol 25
Orb Rolling Mills, Newport 26
Normanby Park Steelworks, Scunthorpe 31
Overseas Sales to the Empire 34
The Great War 38
Summary 39
Part2,1919-45 40
Post-War Recovery 40
v
vi CONTENTS
Orb Works, Newport 43
St Vincent's Works, Bristol 48
Normanby Park Steelworks, Scunthorpe 51
Overseas Ventures: France and Ireland 54
Managers and Management 56
The Second World War 61
Summary 62
3 Coal: Rise and Fall, 1919-35 73
The Post-War Boom: Berry and Llewellyn 74
Colliery Acquisitions 84
Welsh Associated Collieries and Sale to Powell Duffryn 96
Reasons for Failure: Technical Innovation and Labour
Relations 100
Summary 105
4 Steel and GKN, 1919-39 113
Into Adversity: Dowlais and Dowlais-Cardiff East Moors,
1919-29 113
Guest, Keen Baldw ins Iron & Steel Co.: the re-building of
Dowlais-Cardiff 129
Castle Works: transfer from Rogerstone to Cardiff 133
Cwmbran Works 149
Exors. of James Mills: acquisition and operation 151
Management and its Policies 154
Summary 157
PARTII ENGINEERINGINTHEMIDLANDS, 1919-45 165
5 Nettlefolds and the Woodscrew Trade, 1918-39 167
The Difficult Years, 1919-31 167
Recovery and Growth, 1932-39 177
The International Woodscrew Union 182
Subsidiary Acquisitions 187
The Acquisition of Aug. Stenman AB 194
Nettlefolds in Australia 196
Management 197
Summary 200
6 Fasteners and Forgings, 1918-45 207
Decline of London Works and Closure of Stour Valley 207
F. W. Cotterill of Darlaston 208
John Garrington & Sons ofDarlaston 217
Bayliss, Jones & Bayliss ofWolverhampton 220
GKN in South Africa 225
Summary 228
CONTENTS vii
7 Joseph Sankey & Sons 235
Part 1, 1854-1918 235
Joseph Sankey founds the Business 235
Joseph Sankey & Sons: electrical laminations 240
Suppliers to the Automotive Trade 245
Profits and Performance 250
The Great War 251
Summary 252
Part II, 1919-45 253
Takeover by Lysaghts 253
Albert Street Works 254
Bankfield and Manor Rolling Mills 256
Hadley Castle Works 258
Profits and Performance 262
Managers and Management 262
The Second World War 265
India: Sankey Electrical Stampings Ltd 267
Summary 268
8 The Management and Organisation of GKN 275
The Dynastic Succession 275
Directors of Influence 284
Organisational Structure 291
Accounting Policies 295
Summary 297
9 GKN at War, 1939-45 301
The War Effort 301
Government Controls 306
The Impact of War 309
Summary 315
PART III GKN OVERSEAS TO 1945 319
10 John Lysaght (Australia) Pty, 1919-45 321
The Pre-Manufacturing Phase 321
Lysaghts' First Venture: the Newcastle Works 324
The Springhill Works and the C.R.M. Works, Port Kembla 333
Managers and Management 335
The Second World War 337
Summary 339
11 Guest, Keen, Williams in India 345
Henry Williams India 346
Guest, Keen, Williams 351
viii CONTENTS
Managers and Management 354
The Second World War 359
Labour and Conditions of Employment 360
Summary 362
12 Conclusions and Perspective 367
Sources 375
Manuscript Sources 375
Journals 375
Select Bibliography 376
Index 379
List of Maps and Figures
1 A simplified genealogical table of GKN, 1918-45 xxxvi
2 GKN profits and equity interest, 1902-47 10
3 A simplified family tree of the Lysaghts 22
4 The principal coal holdings of GKN, c. 1925 86
5 Coal mining by longwall advancing method 101
6 Castle Works, Rogerstone, c. 1910 136
7 Plan of Castle Works, Cardiff, 1939 144
8 Dowlais-Cardiff Steelworks, East Moors (c. 1968) 156
9 Woodscrew sales by Nettlefolds, 1920-45 178
10 A plan of Heath Street Mills, c. 1930 183
11 GKN Works in the Black Country, c. 1920 209
12 A simplified genealogical table of the Sankeys 240
13 GKNin 1935 287
14 Newcastle and Port Kembla Works, annual coated sheet
production compared with imports, 1920-45 329
ix
