By 1951, the Group consisted of 28 member companies employing over 12,000 people in operations as diverse as Aerospace (Aviation Department, Messier Ltd), Domestic Equipment (Easiclene), Fork Lift Trucks (Conveyancer), Office Furniture (Leabank), Nuts, Bolts, Chains, Tools, Agricultural Implements and of course Automotive Components (Chassis, Wheels etc) to name but a few.

Harold McMillan’s famous phrase “you’ve never had it so good” could have been tailor made to chart the growth of companies such as Rubery Owen through the ‘50’s and ‘60’s – the period saw significant and sustained growth for a Group of Companies that described itself as a “diversified, flexible, multi-national based enterprise” that manufactured more than 12,000 different components, assemblies and machines on a worldwide basis, employing more than 15,000 people in a group of 88 companies and operating on 5 continents! The diverse field of activity had increased still further, such that to the ‘interests’ of the 50’s outlined above, the spectrum was now even wider – earthmovers, fuel pumps, automated warehousing, integrated handling systems, yacht and boat building, foundry and welding plant and equipment, machine tools, farm equipment are just a few of the activities that can be extracted from a 1969 “Products and Services” brochure.

The ‘70’s were a difficult period – with the early ‘70’s came fuel crises and fluctuating fortunes particularly due to smaller numbers of cars being produced in the UK at a time when production in both France and Germany was expanding significantly, and though there was the occasional ‘highlight’, by the late 70’s things were difficult again as a result of considerable rationalisation in the UK Aerospace industry and well as the Materials Handling/Forklift Truck sector, allied to the continuing difficulties and disruption in the UK Automotive Industry – The Group was significantly exposed to all of these sectors, and suffered as a result.

In 1981 the Company took the momentous decision to close its main Darlaston factory, with over 6000 jobs having been lost during the course of the previous 5 years, and from that point on the company took the decision that it would pursue a strategy of ‘orderly exit’ from its traditional manufacturing and engineering businesses – successful and growing manufacturing businesses were sold to organisations with access to larger amounts of capital and therefore better placed to drive their growth, whilst other operations were rationalised or even closed.

The story of RO can really be viewed as a microcosm of the change in British Industry between the late ‘60s and early 90’s – for a whole variety of reasons, what the company used to do is no longer done in this country anymore. Our fortunes, as a supplier of components and other assemblies under long term contracts to manufacturers of finished goods, were largely in the hands of others and in many ways our hands were tied. The lessons that we have learnt have been valuable ones, and the fact that we are still here is testament to that! Indeed, many of our contemporaries, business that used to do what we used to do, are no longer around and in many ways the fact that we are still in existence is as much of an achievement as the original growth and expansion of the business.

The last major manufacturing interest was sold in 1993 and since then the company has focussed its attention on 3 key strands – Property, Investment, and a number of independent operating subsidiaries. Yes, it’s smaller than it used to be in the late ‘60s and early ‘70’s, but it’s still innovating and it’s still active.

As we approach the 125th anniversary of the firms founding, we are investing heavily in our operating companies, and as the world faces different issues – climate change, social responsibility, the internet age etc – we hope that we are doing our bit to contribute, and see real opportunities to be at the forefront of the evolution of a new type of “British Industry” and “Industrial Revolution”.

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