Making Cars at Longbridge

Author: Gillian Bardsley
Publisher: Tempus Publishing, Limited
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 196

Book Description
Containing unique images from the official company archive, this book charts almost one hundred years of car-making at Longbridge near Birmingham. The Austin Motor Company was founded here by Herbert Austin in 1905 and it has since been home to the British Motor Corporation, British Leyland, Rover Group and latterly MG Rover. Its products include some of the most famous British models ever produced: the pioneering Austin Seven of the 1920s; the classic Mini, introduced to the world in 1959 with in astonishing production run of 41 years and a final tally of over 5 million; the Austin Metro, trumpeted as the 'British Car to Beat the World'; and in later years the best-selling MG TF and elegant Rover 75. The factory has been a major employer and an integral part of the local community since its foundation. The sad events of April 2005, when MG Rover went into administration, will radically change the landscape. But the area is now looking to the future, never fogetting its long and proud tradition of manufacturing. Colin Corke in a lifelong car enthusiast, Vicar of Longbridge and a former chaplain to the factory. Gillian Bardsley is Archivist to the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust as Gaydon, which is custodian of the extensive Longbridge archive and much more. She is also biographer of Sir Alec Issigonis who designed some of the factory's best loved products.

Making Cars at Longbridge

Author: Gillian Bardsley
Publisher: History Press
ISBN: 9780750965293
Category : Automobile factories
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
"Lavishly illustrated with unique images from the official company archive, this book charts more than 100 years of car-making at the Longbridge factory, near Birmingham. Herbert Austin founded the Austin Motor Company here in April 1905 and it was subsequently home to the British Motor Corporation, British Leyland, Rover Group and, latterly, MG Rover. Its products include some of the most famous British models ever produced, such as the pioneering Austin Seven, the innovative trend-setting Mini, the popular Austin Metro and, in later years, the best-selling MG TF and elegant Rover 75. The factory was a major employer and an integral part of the local community from its beginnings until the sad events of April 2005, when MG Rover went into administration. This radically changed the landscape, spearheading the long-term regeneration of the area. The community is looking to the future with confidence, never forgetting its long and proud tradition of manufacturing. This fully updated version honours the 110th anniversary of the first motor production at Longbridge as well as the 150th birthday of Herbert Austin. It includes a new colour section showing various stages in the life of a car, from the design studio to the showroom."--Publisher description.

Men and Motors of 'the Austin'

Author: Barney Sharratt
Publisher: Haynes Publications
ISBN: 9781859606711
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 272

Book Description
A story rich in historical detail, human experience and social history, Men and Motors of "The Austin" covers the history of the Longbridge factory from inception by Herbert Austin in 1905 through to present-day ownership by BMW. Sharratt details the many famous car designs that have emerged from the Longbridge works, the factorys wartime production, and describes life in a major car production plant, from shop floor to design, development, and management. Based on interviews with those who designed, developed, and built the cars.

The Impacts of Automotive Plant Closure

Author: Andrew Beer
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 131798921X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 192

Book Description
Economic restructuring has been a notable feature of so-called mature industrial economies such as the UK and Australia in the last two decades, with deregulation, privatisation, technological change and globalisation combining to reshape such economies. Some industries have grown, while others have declined. Moreover, while overall employment in the UK and Australia has grown, many newly-created positions require skills not found in the industries shedding labour, or are in casualised and low paid occupations. Many lesser-skilled workers leaving declining industries are therefore at risk of long-term unemployment or leaving the workforce entirely. Both mental and physical health can be affected after redundancy. It is therefore crucial that the measures put in place in many domains of social policy (such as formal health policy, employment assistance, community development, housing assistance and so on) to adequately address the difficulties confronting this group. This volume takes a closer look at the impact of manufacturing - notably automotive - plant closures in the UK (Birmingham) and Australia (Adelaide) in recent years and policy responses to those closures. It attempts to tease out differences in policy response and effectiveness, and attempts to identify areas where policy could be made to work better in terms of adjusting to large scale manufacturing change and resulting job losses. In so doing, it begins, for the first time we believe, to take a comparative approach to understanding the impact of plant closures and policy responses. This book was published as a special issue of Policy Studies.

The Long Haul

Author: Michael Seth-Smith
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1351670433
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 189

Book Description
Originally published in 1975 this book charts the history of Foden, a name inseparably linked with the growth and development of the haulage industry. The history of Foden provides the perfect backdrop to the history of the entire industry and the commercial vehicle generally, as it unfolds against the political, social and industrial scenes of the Victorian and Edwardian eras, as well as the inter-war years and up to the mid 1970s.

Tracing Your Birmingham Ancestors

Author: Michael Sharpe
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1473856256
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 265

Book Description
Birmingham, the cradle of the industrial revolution and the world's first manufacturing town, is an important focus for many family historians who will find that their trail leads through it. Rural migrants, Quakers, Jews, Irish, Italians, and more recently people from the Caribbean, South-Asia and China have all made Birmingham their home. This vibrant history is reflected in the city's rich collections of records, and Michael Sharpe's handbook is the ideal guide to them. He introduces readers to the wealth of information available, providing an essential guide for anyone researching the history of the city or the life of an individual ancestor. His work addresses novices and experienced researchers alike and offers a compendium of sources from legal and ecclesiastical archives, to the records of local government, employers, institutions, clubs, societies and schools. Accessible, informative and extensively referenced, it is the perfect companion for research in Britain's second city.

Ordering Lives

Author: Gordon Hughes
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134330022
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 193

Book Description
This accessible and exciting text examines the role of family, work and welfare in maintaining social order and promoting social change in the UK from the 1950s to the beginning of the twenty-first century.

Globalisation & Manufacturing Decline

Author: Nicola R. Hothi
Publisher: Arena books
ISBN: 9780954316143
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 212

Book Description
At a time when the manufacturing industry in Britain is coming under increasing focus, "Globalisation & Manufacturing Decline" provides a clear framework for positioning the key drivers and influences on automotive manufacturing in Britain today.

MG Century

Author: David Knowles
Publisher: Motorbooks
ISBN: 0760383162
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 247

Book Description
Celebrate and explore 100 years of MG cars with this impressive volume featuring expert commentary, historical images, period ads, and contemporary photography. For many car enthusiasts, MG is synonymous with “sports car.” It is often credited with igniting a passion for European cars in postwar America at a time when roads were otherwise filled with the lumbering output of Detroit. In MG’s native England, the company’s cars filled roles from family transport to competition driving. MG, as we think of it today, began in the 1920s, but its roots go back even further with a young William Morris. Initially working in the booming bicycle trade, he eventually branched into motorcycle and car repair with the fledgling Morris Garage (hence, MG) in 1907. By the mid 1920s, the successful Morris Garages was in a position to begin manufacture of its own cars under the MG name. MG grew significantly in the years before World War II, building and racing its classic Midgets and Magnettes. World War II provided challenging times for the company as it did for the UK and much of the world. In the postwar period, a focus on sales outside England, and particularly in the United States, both defined MG’s product line and ensured its success. Legendary cars followed, including MG TC, TD, and TF followed by thoroughly modern MGA, MGB, MGB GT, and Midget. Magnettes and the 1100 offered options for those wanting sedans and more practical cars. MG ownership moved through a number of UK companies in the postwar period as well as ownership by BMW and today’s SAIC, a Chinese-based company through which it operates as MG Motor. Highlights along the way included the MGB GT V8, MG Metro Group B rally car, and MGF. Based on its latest state-of-the-art EV platform, MG will soon launch an all-new roadster coming full circle over its century in business. Authored by marque expert David Knowles, The MG Century: 100 Years of Safety Fast! is a fitting celebration of one of the automotive world’s oldest and most beloved brands—and a must-have for every car enthusiast.

Voices of Guinness

Author: Tim Strangleman
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190645113
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 241

Book Description
Imagine a workplace where workers enjoyed a well-paid job for life, one where they could start their day with a pint of stout and a smoke, and enjoy free meals in silver service canteens and restaurants. During their breaks they could explore acres of parkland planted with hundreds of trees and thousands of shrubs. Imagine after work a place where employees could play more than thirty sports, or join one of the theater groups or dozens of other clubs. Imagine a place where at the end of a working life you could enjoy a company pension from a scheme to which you had never contributed a penny. Imagine working in buildings designed by an internationally renowned architect whose brief was to create a building that "would last a century or two." This is no fantasy or utopian vision of work but a description of the working conditions enjoyed by employees at the Guinness brewery established at Park Royal in West London in the mid-1930s. In this book, Tim Strangleman tells the story of the Guinness brewery at Park Royal, showing how the history of one plant tells us a much wider story about changing attitudes and understandings about work and the organization in the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Drawing on extensive oral history interviews with staff and management as well as a wealth of archival and photographic sources, the book shows how progressive ideas of workplace citizenship came into conflict with the pressure to adapt to new expectations about work and its organization. Strangleman illustrates how these changes were experienced by those on the shop floor from the 1960s through to the final closure of the plant in 2005. This book asks striking and important questions about employment and the attachment workers have to their jobs, using the story of one of the UK and Ireland's most beloved brands, Guinness.