1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188 
Immediate
Page 156
Page 157
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
post-war development
Hollingsworth's Auto Electrical Services Hollingsworths, Lucas Distributors for the Northampton area, now have a history of their own. By the mid-fifties the weight of business, both in tyres and electrical goods, had grown to such an extent that they had to be separated. A new company was formed—Hollingsworth's Auto Electrical Services Limited. The tyre business was changed to "Marsham" . . . and at the end of the following year the turnover of both businesses had doubled. Initiative had paid ample dividends.
The electrical business now operates in Bridge Street and in Weedon Road. Branches are established in Kettering, Wellingborough and Daventry.
The present Managing Director of Hollingsworth's Auto Electrical Services, who is also Divisional Manager for the Marsham Hollingsworth's Division, joined the original company as an errand boy in 1922. We are proud of our record of promotion within our own ranks—the way to the top is always open.
1937 Our growth had resulted in an increase of the Head Office staff and during 1937 the Directors, with the Sales Administration Departments, moved to new offices at Jubilee House, 207 /213 Oxford Street, London, W.1. The Accounts Department remained at Whitfield Street until 1951 except for a period during the war when they were evacuated to Bedford.
New tyre service stations were built at Bedford, Brixton, Wolverhampton, Leicester, Watford and Nottingham. A tyre business was acquired in Cheltenham.
The London Tyre Retreading Co., of Thornton Heath, was purchased. This was the birth of the Regent Tyre & Rubber Co., Limited.
1938 Branches were built at London, E.15, Derby, Gloucester and Chelmsford. The design of these buildings was such that many people thought that they were too expansive for their probable needs. Experience proved that far from being too ambitious, the design was, in fact, too conservative.
The Regent Tyre and Rubber Company Limited It was in this year that Regent moved to a factory in Edmonton. A bold venture which„ in its early days, was fraught with difficulties. Nevertheless, with the full support of the Marsham salesmen, later augmented by a separate Regent sales force, the progress was remarkable.
During 1947 another factory was acquired at Patricroft. The space available was such that it seemed unlikely that it could be fully utilised and suggestions for the production of other products were solicited from our staff. . . . Yet by 1951 it became necessary to establish additional factories in Bristol and Johnstone in Scotland. Within three years of these factories coming into production Regent had become the largest remoulder in Europe and eventually it was merged into the Dunlop Group Remoulding organisation.
1939 Despite the uncertain political situation, progress went ahead unchecked. Further expansion took place with branches being built at Cambridge, Edmonton, King's Lynn and Greenwich.
1946 The war over—Post-war Tyre Control was in operation. Tyre supply could not cope with demand. Men were returning to resume careers. They had to adjust themselves to civilian life and become familiar with changed trading conditions. In the meantime the Company planned for the years ahead.
Even during this year when re-integration was taking place both in the personal and the business sense, expansion was not completely ignored. The business of W. R. Barnes & Co. Ltd., at Accrington was acquired and a branch was built in Wellingborough.
1947 The modest 1946 programme was a prelude to a more ambitious plan, part of which became effective during 1947. On January 1st, 1947 a branch was opened at Reading, followed in April by another at High Wycombe and in July by a branch at Oxford. Another branch was built at Burton-on-Trent and at the close of the year, Westcliff-on-Sea.
1948 The programme planned in 1946, commenced in 1947, reached its climax in 1948. Marsham entered the Potteries by building a branch in Newcastle. Other new branches followed at almost monthly intervals. The first was Dunstable, followed in succession by Tunbridge Wells, Romford, Reigate, Rochester and Brighton (Hove). 1949 /50 Not unnaturally a period of consolidation had to follow whilst more staff were trained to enable them to shoulder the responsibility of branch management. Nevertheless a new branch was built at Swindon during 1949.
1951 In January 1951 we opened at Coventry and in the same year we purchased the Dengate Tyre Co. Ltd., of Kingsbury, London, N.W.9.
In 1957 this business was re-housed in a very large modern depot on The Broadway at Hendon, London, N.W.10, where trading recommenced under the name of Marsham.
1952 TYRE DISPOSALS LTD.
The insatiable demand for casings to feed the Regent factories with their basic raw material, could not be met. Marsham appointed Casing Collectors who called on traders and users for the sole purpose of obtaining casings. Their efforts, good as they were, did not produce enough.
On June 1st 1 952 a separate company Tyre Disposals Ltd., was formed. The primary object of this company was to organise, on a national basis, the purchase of casings to enable Regent to maintain and improve its output.
By 1957 the new Company had established 25 depots in various parts of the country and a glance at the record of Regent clearly shows that Tyre Disposals Ltd., met the challenge . .. it even found time to explore other fields. Marsham were still consolidating after the rapid expansion of the late 1940s. Every Marsham Area Manager has to have a blend of good tyre knowledge plus the ability to manage a branch. Training and experience are essential for any man who is earmarked for promotion and we prefer to grow our own "green timber". Expansion did not, however, cease completely and in April of that year we opened a new branch at Worcester which preceded Bury St. Edmunds by only two months.
1953/54 Marsham had first entered Lancashire as early as 1934 and in 1953 the decision was taken to improve our coverage. A new branch was opened in the centre of Manchester and in 1954 we commenced trading in Liverpool.