Seddon: A confident
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jubilee by Ashley Taylor
• Achievement of the company's golden jubilee by the Seddon organization has provided the celebration of the week. While the 50-year milestone is an appropriate point for looking back, the occasion is perhaps regarded at the Oldham plant more as a time for visualizing the projection of the company's activities into the future. The business that was established 50 years ago this month has a production target for the current year of 4,000 chassis, with an overall aim of a 20 per cent annual increase to follow.
There have, of course, been vast changes since the second week in April 1919 when the Seddon brothers became the working partners in a new business set up with a capital of £2,500. Much of that progress has, indeed, taken place since Mr. H. Redmond, the present chairman and managing director, joined them in April 1930—by which time a limited company had been formed with a capital of £7,126. Seddon Diesel Vehicles Ltd., a public company, was founded in 1951 with an issued capital of £400,000, and at the beginning of this month the Stock Exchange valuation of the current capital was £5,803,750.
Many of the older generation of Commercial Motor readers will recall the varied activities of Foster and Seddon—the original title—which gave the Seddon brothers a background almost certainly unique among British vehicle manufacturers. Prior to designing the first vehicle, they had been hauliers, coach and bus operators, commercial vehicle engineers and distributors, so they knew the job from every angle. Soon after leaving the Royal Flying Corps in 1919 Herbert Seddon was persuaded by a family friend, Ernest Foster, to attend an auction of ex-service lorries by J. Blake and Co. Ltd., the intention being that one should be purchased by Foster for the collection of milk in his own business. Instead, the two young men acquired a charabanc, assistance with the purchase coming from Mr. Seddon senior on the condition that Robert Seddon should join the business on his release from the forces.
They established themselves in Salford; the following year went into haulage and in 1928 were running a bus service from Manchester to Swinton. For much of the 1920s they also acted as commercial vehicle distributors. As a result of changing conditions, the decision was taken in 1929 to cease vehicle operation and to concentrate on sales and service, this new policy becoming effective in 1930 when the turnover averaged £600 a week. In 1937 the late Robert Seddon designed a 50cwt unladen weight Perkins-engined vehicle with a 6-ton payload and at the 1938 Scottish Show Herbert Seddon had the prototype on the car park where he booked the first order, which was for Athersmith Bros. of Ulverston, Lancs.
The outbreak of war quickly curtailed their vehicle production and, while a token number were built, the main activity was directed to trailer manufacture. An interesting interlude in the early war days concerned experiments conducted in conjunction with the Nigerian government to ascertain how diesel lorries would run on palm oil, coconut oil and banana oil. Tests, at which I represented Commercial Motor, showed only a slight loss of power. The "oils" were actually heavy grease which had to be melted by running the exhaust pipe through the fuel tank and a major worry was the need to feed dery into the system before a halt, otherwise all the pipework would have gone solid as the fuel cooled and set.
At the end of the war, work was being spread over several small premises in Salford but very soon a modern "shadow" plant, the Woodstock factory at Oldham, was acquired. Great expansion of production followed, with the number of employees rising to today's level of about 800. Despite the lapse of over 20 years there are still around 40 workers who travel daily from Salford by the company's bus, in addition to others who come by car_ The Pennine Coachcraft subsidiary was formed in 1963 while over the past couple of years Seddon Deutz Ltd. has been set up on a 50-50 basis in conjunction with IClockner-HumboldtDeutz. Seddon Motors Ltd. has been formed to take over vehicle production and a bus division, operating at the Rhos Mill site, Oldham, has been added to manufacture bus chassis and bodies.
Sales that, as mentioned earlier, stood at £30,000 for 1930 amounted to £9m in the year to June 30, 1968. At that date the Stock Exchange value of the share capital was close on £4m. Up to this time only £300,000 extra capital had been brought in to supplement the original £2,500, expansion being largely financed by ploughing back the profits. This year (1969) a "rights issue" has increased the issued capital to £1m, so providing cash for further expansion.
The position of group chairman was held by the late Robert Seddon until he relin
quished this responsibility in 1962, Mr. Herbert Seddon taking over until 1964. Five years ago Mr. Redmond, then joint managing director, became chairman and managing director. At the same time his two sons joined the board, Geoffrey John Redmond, a qualified accountant, as financial director, and David William Redmond as engineering director, with John Verdellis as sales director.
Current fashion, says Mr. Redmond, favours merging into large groups and he sees this as, if anything, an advantage to the substantial independent manufacturer such as Seddon, since the general effect of grouping is to limit the buyer's choice. Since considerable success has been achieved by Seddon, particularly overseas, Mr. Redmond sees no reason to fear the giants of the industry, and points out that, taking into account profit in relation to capital employed as a fair indication of efficiency, the group shows up in a favourable light.
Most real innovations, says Mr. Redmond, emanate in the first place from the smaller manufacturers. By the end of the current year he expects Seddon to be operating in some 40 territories abroad and to be represented on every continent. Notable success has been achieved in passenger vehicles in Central America where purchasers have found the design to fit closely to their needs. Already over 100 Seddon passenger units are operating there and a heavy order book is held for this particular market.
Since company policy is to sell overseas wherever possible-54 per cent of production went abroad in 1956, for instance—the decision was taken recently to concentrate extra effort on the sale of buses in Central America, passenger vehicles clearly offering greater scope than goods for which the main demand is for 10-tonners, a class falling below the present Seddon range.
Sales of passenger chassis in the export field have continued over the past 20 years and confidence for the passenger market in the future is being given practical expression by provision ola 40,000 sq. ft. bus chassis and body plant on the Rhos Mill site. The transfer of passenger production from the Woodstock factory will make for the increased throughput there of goods chassis for which the demand has been difficult to satisfy.
With a range of goods vehicles from 14 to 32 tons, says Mr. Redmond, his company is in price competition with the largest groups in the industry. Much development work has been carried out with the object of building up additional technical background to provide for future advances. In order to improve internal organization in dealing with orders for both home and overseas a computer is to be installed which will aid material control and procurement in relation not only to production but to spares supply.
At the Seddon jubilee dinner on Wednesday, Mr. Redmond was due to make three presentations: one to the first buyer of a Seddon truck, one to the first overseas buyer, and one to the outstanding Seddon overseas distributor who, incidentally, had flown from Malaya for the occasion.