| SAIC Longbridge plant | |
| Location: | Longbridge, Birmingham, England |
| Industry: | Automotive |
| Architect: | Herbert Austin |
| Style: | Manufacturing, industrial centre/plant |
| Area: | [1] (Remaining) |
| Address: | MG Motor, Lowhill Lane, Longbridge, Birmingham B31 2BQ |
| Owner: | Austin Motor Company (1906–1952) British Motor Corporation (1952–1968) British Leyland (1968–1986) Rover Group (1986–2000) MG Rover Group (2000–2005) SAIC (2005–present) |
The Longbridge plant is an industrial complex in Longbridge, Birmingham, England, currently leased by SAIC as a research and development facility for its MG Motor subsidiary.[2] Vehicle assembly ended in 2016.
Opened in 1905, by the late 1960s Longbridge employed around 25,000 workers,[3] [4] building cars including the original Mini.
In the Second World War, the main plant produced munitions and tank parts, while the nearby East Works of Austin Aero Ltd at Cofton Hackett produced Short Stirling and Hawker Hurricane aircraft.
Since the collapse of MG Rover in 2005, part of the site has been redeveloped for commercial and residential use.[5]
The original site and factory development was undertaken by Birmingham-based copper-plate printers White and Pike Ltd. Looking to consolidate a number of small sites around Birmingham, and diversify into new areas, they chose a series of 20 agricultural fields in Northfield eight miles to the south of the city on the Bristol Road at Longbridge.[6] The site was bounded by Lickey Road, Lowhill Lane, the Midland Railway's main Birmingham to Gloucester mainline, and the Halesowen Joint Railway with the Great Western Railway. The purchase also included Cofton Hill, which rose above its surroundings. Designed by Stark & Rowntree of Glasgow and constructed by James Moffatt & Sons of Camp Hill, the factory was built at a cost of £105,000, opening in the first quarter of 1895. Unfortunately, the venture failed, and the site was repossessed by the bank in 1901.[7]
See main article: article and Austin Motor Company. Herbert Austin, who was born in Buckinghamshire and raised in Yorkshire, escaped his intended railway engineering apprenticeship and learnt his trade under an uncle in Melbourne, Australia. He returned to England in 1893 as manager of an Australian company relocating to Birmingham. In 1901, with the Vickers brothers, he founded and ran Wolseley Tool and Motor Car Company, which became Britain's largest car manufacturer.[8]
In 1905, he fell out with the Vickers brothers,[8] and looking to found his own motor car company, Herbert Austin undertook numerous exploratory rides around Birmingham in his Wolseley 7.5-horsepower[9] On 4 November 1905, he found the derelict printing works,[9] owned by a financier, E A Olivieri. Friends came forward with financial help, and with additional invoice financing from Frank Kayser of Kayser, Ellison and Company, and William Harvey du Cros of the Dunlop Rubber Company,[10] enabled Austin to buy the site and an additional from Olivieri for £7,500 on 22 January 1906.[7] Austin and his initial workforce of the Austin Motor Company had, in fact, moved into the derelict buildings before this date, as Austin was so focused on showing his new car at the British Motor Show, to be held in November 1906 at Olympia, London. On paper, the first Austin was described as a 25-30 h.p. high-class touring car with a four-speed gearbox and a chain-driven transmission. Each car had a material and quality guarantee and the first car was produced at the end of March 1906, at a price of £650.[7] Some 50 hands were employed during the first year and they produced about a dozen cars.[6]
By 1908, 1,000 workers were at a factory, which covered ; a night shift was introduced to help create adequate supply to meet the rising demand for products.[7] By September 1912, workshops covered more than 8 acres, output was running at 1,000 cars a year and employee numbers were 1,800. Austin built their own bodies and their coachbuilding department was one of the largest in the country. They built their own artillery wood wheels and made the hubs for wire-spoked and pressed-steel wheels.[6] In February 1914, the company was floated as a public company and £250,000 of new preference shares were issued to the public and listed on the stock exchanges.[11]
The new funding paid for the construction of additional workshops and the transition of the plant from mechanical drive with its great shafts and belts to electric drive. Two four-cylinder vertical gas engines of each,[11] designed by the Anderson Foundry Co. of Glasgow, coupled to three-phase alternators built by Allmänna Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget of Sweden, provided the electricity.[7]
The Longbridge plant was part of a significant rapid mobilisation process, which took place across Europe on the outbreak of World War I. Machines that had been used to build Austin cars were employed to produce munitions, and all the resources of the factory were harnessed to serve the armed forces.
As the demand for weapons and equipment of every kind continued to increase, the factory was expanded. The area between the existing buildings and the Midland Railway mainline were built on. The expansion also enabled the 1915 construction of Longbridge railway station within the boundaries of the works, allowing the Midland Railway to run workers' trains direct from Birmingham New Street.[7]
By 1917, the factory site trebled in size, and possessed its own flying ground at Cofton Hackett, south of the main works, which was operated by the newly formed Austin Aero Company. The employees, many of whom were women, rose to over 22,000 during the peak years.
Between 1914 and 1918, over 8,000,000 shells were produced along with 650 guns, 2,000 aeroplanes, 2,500 aero engines, and 2,000 trucks.[12] In recognition of this, Herbert Austin was knighted in 1917 and he was also honoured by Belgium for employing 3,000 Belgian refugees at Longbridge.[13]
With the need to expand capacity, the company bought Longbridge farm. Located north of the existing site, it became known as Longbridge North works, bounded again by the railways, Bristol Road, and Longbridge Lane. After the farm buildings had been demolished and the River Rea placed in a covered culvert, the company began development in June 1916:[7]
The works and plant had grown to over 10 times their prewar size; no peace-time products were being made. The Armistice terminated the war suddenly, contracts were cancelled at very short notice.
Major wartime additions to plant included a large steel foundry, a very large sheet-metal pressings shop, and a very large and complete hardening and heat-treatment shop.[14]
Before the end of the war, plans were announced for concentrating on the production of a 20 hp car when peace returned. In addition, the engine used for the 20 hp model was adapted for an Austin tractor, running on kerosene, which won many agricultural awards between 1919 and 1921. A 13-ton truck was also produced, using the same engine.
For a short time Austin Aero Company's postwar programme also included a range of aeroplanes. The Austin Greyhound two-seater fighter was one, and the Austin Ball single-seater another. Then, a single-seater biplane with folding wings was sold at £500, with a fourth called the Austin Whippet.
After 1921, Austin became interested in smaller vehicles, including a 12 hp car and the tiny, and still familiar, Austin 7. In many ways, the car was a miniature version, scaled down with the characteristic simplicity of Lord Austin's products.
On the outbreak of World War II, the factory was mobilised again. The manufacturing of cars was largely abandoned and the machines were turned to the production of armour-piercing ammunition for the QF 2-pounder, QF 6-pounder, and QF 17-pounder antitank guns, steel boxes, jerrycans, mines, depth charges, and helmets.
Longbridge also produced parts for tanks, while aircraft were produced at the Austin Aero shadow factory at nearby Cofton Hackett. Fairey Battle light bombers and Mercury and Pegasus aero engines were produced, along with the Short Stirling four-engined heavy bomber and Hawker Hurricane fighter. Nearly 3,000 aircraft were built, along with 36,000 suspension units.
Bren guns and mortars were manufactured in West Works, in the area later known as West 4 Upper.
Trentham buildings, Number 2 paint shop, was still referred to as the Beaufighter line by some people during the 1970s.
The building known as the Flight Shed in Cofton Lane was where the airframes received their final quality check and wings were fitted to Hurricane fighters. Lancaster wings were fitted as the aircraft left the shed. Hurricanes were lifted up the raised airfield on a motorised skid. The skids were still there at the rear of the Flight Shed during the 1980s. Lancaster bombers were transported by road to RAF Elmdon for flight testing.
Having such a concentration of wartime production meant that the area was a prime target for bombers. Erdington was made famous for being the first part of England to be bombed by the Germans, who had presumably been trying to hit Longbridge.