| Type | Private company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Heavy machinery, construction equipment |
| Fate | Sold in 1988 to Wordsworh Holdings |
| Predecessor | Aveling and Porter, Barford & Perkins |
| Successor | Wordsworth Holdings (Barfords) |
| Founded | 13 February 1934 |
| Founder(s) | Ruston & Hornsby |
| Headquarters | Invicta Works, Houghton Road, Grantham |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Off-road dump trucks, dumpers |
| Owner(s) | Ruston & Hornsby (1934-67) British Leyland (1967-88) |
| Employees | c.2,000 |
| Subsidiaries | Barford Developments, Barford (Agricultural) |
Aveling-Barford was a large engineering company making road rollers and dumper trucks in Grantham, Lincolnshire. In its time, it was an internationally known company.
Contents |
It had a dramatic formation, and was not established by people new to its field of engineering. It was formed in February 1934[1] when Aveling and Porter of Rochester, Kent effectively went bankrupt, when the parent company Agricultural & General Engineers (AGE) went into receivership in 1932. At the same time Barford & Perkins (related to today's Perkins Engines) of Peterborough were also entering administration. Frank Perkins worked for his family company of Barford & Perkins, and also Aveling and Porter. These two companies were Britain's two leading manufacturers of road rollers.
Aveling & Porter Ltd had been formed in 1850, becoming a public company on 16 July 1895, then a private company in 1919, and acquired the assets of Barford & Perkins Ltd in 1932, which had been formed in 1840. The name changed to Aveling-Barford on 13 February 1934. Early in 1934 the business was transferred from Rochester to Grantham on a 36 acre site which was leased from R & H. On the Board of Directors were Edward James Barford and William Geoffrey Barford (from Barford & Perkins), and John Heinrich Wulff Pawlyn, a Director of R & H based at the Ransomes subsidiary in Ipswich, and George Ruston Sharpley, the Managing Director of R & H.
Without the financial assistance of Ruston & Hornsby of Lincoln, both companies would not have survived. R & H funded the amalgamation of the two companies, and gave them part of their Grantham site. For many years all the vehicles were powered by R & H diesel engines. R & H had also previously made road rollers, but concentrated this all at Grantham.
In the 1930s it made cooling equipment for dairy farms, and cooking equipment for hotels, hospitals, and canteens. It became a public company on 29 June 1937. At this time it claimed to make 75% of the road rollers in Britain, and world leaders in their field.
Edward Barford (23 April 1898 - 11 July 1979) became the Chairman of the company from 1933, remaining until 1968. It began making its first earth moving equipment - the Aveling Dumper.
During the Second World War the company made Bren Gun Carriers, shell fuse caps and the Loyd Carrier.
The company also made calfdozers (small bulldozers). From April 1946 two subsidiary companies were formed - Barford Developments Ltd and Barford (Agricultural) Ltd. On 17 September 1946 a new factory in Newcastle upon Tyne was opened.
In 1967 it became part of British Leyland. British Leyland engines were to be used as part of the deal, but there were reliability problems.
The site was bought by Wordsworth Holdings in 1988, who went into administration in 2010. Barfords is now owned by Invictas Engineering.
In August 2007 Moxy Engineering of Norway bought the intellectual property rights of the Barford dump truck range.[2]
Barfords' sports field is still in existence, called Arnoldfield, in Gonerby Hill Foot.
Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Aveling-Barford Aveling-Barford] at Wikimedia Commons