Monthly Archives: November 2024

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 21 November 2024

Uncategorized

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 21 November 2024

Making an Irish Free State City – Sunbeam Wolsey’s War Years

The Thirteenth Ordinary General Meeting of Sunbeam Wolsey Ltd was held on 12 September, 1941. It revealed methods of circumventing challenges posed by the Second World War. In particular, during the summer of 1941, a complete embargo was placed by the Westminister government on the export of Australian wool to Ireland. As a result it was initially feared that only half of the Combing Plant could be utilised. So Irish wool was used. A closer study  found that Irish wool was of infinitely better quality than had been anticipated and that it could be processed on the finest of the factory combs.

William Dwyer much regretted the reduction of £23,000 in stock. It was partly due to the difficulty in obtaining raw materials and it was also due to the much greater demand for the goods manufactured by the Company.

However, against that context in 1942 Sunbeam Wolsey Ltd published a promotional booklet, which set out in brief the first 14 years of the Company since 1928 and an overview of the Company in that year. It was highlighted that the entire Company was managed by Mr Declan Dwyer, who was also a Director and a son of the founder. The initial pages focussed in on the processes of scouring, combing, and carding that took place in a long and grey single-storey building at Blackpool.

Focus was placed on the fact that a large proportion of the hosiery yarns used in this country were dyed at Blackpool, including commissioned work for outside spinners and manufacturers. At Millfield one of the best-equipped machinery dyehouses in Ireland was sited. The booklet noted that the dyeing transformation scene was like a scene in a pantomime; “The products are changed in the dyehouse into riotous colours-every colour imaginable, from the browns of the Silk Hosiery to the blues, crimsons To this portion of the factory come the yarns to and greens of the wool yarns…The dyer’s job is not merely to produce beautiful shades though. He has to make the colours proof against light. washing, perspiration and sea water. To do this, he must have ample supplies of good water, and at Millfield a big filtering plant and the ‘Permutit’ process purifies and softens the water to zero degrees hardness”.

The booklet continued to describe that down in the bowels of the factory was the boiler house with its three 38-foot boilers, each capable of generating 10,000 lbs of steam per hour. Here too was a huge steam accumulator that kept the supply of steam heat to the factory, dyehouse and humidifiers constant – even though the boiler output varied. Finally, the water softening plant ensured that the water used for cleaning and dyeing was of the exact nature required. Pumped through filters to free it from impurities, the water went to the Permutit softening plant at the rate of 5,000 gallons hourly.

There was an interesting section in the booklet dealing with the heat within the factory in the silk thrower section. The whole process of spinning and knitting silk hosiery was carried out at a tropical temperature. Traversing the ceiling at regular intervals were big white humidifiers, which kept the atmosphere at a set warm temperature. If that did not occur, the silk thread would become hard, brittle and unworkable. As the silk arrived from China or Japan, the silk was in long hanks and had to be steeped in special oils and chemicals for a number of hours to give it elasticity.

Throughout the promotional booklet, there were nods as one would expect to the skilled workers and the importance of efficient management; “The Sunbeam Wolsey equipment is the finest procurable. The Sunbeam Wolsey workers are second to none in skill and the materials used are the best that money can buy. Everyone at Sunbeam Wolsey, from the management right down to the latest joined junior, is united in a firm resolve that every Sunbeam Wolsey garment will be all that the most critical wearer could desire. It will give satisfaction, not only when new, but through long and strenuous wear”.

Through graphic illustrations in the booklet, some interesting facts about Sunbeam Wolsey production were highlighted, especially on yarn production and payroll; “In only one day enough wool yarn to stretch twice around the world is produced while the number of employees has increased thirteen times. The weekly payroll has increased twenty times and up to 1940 the production of silk hosiery had grown eightfold. Perhaps the most surprising thing that emerges from those figures is that the production per employee is practically doubled since 1928. The reasons for this are increased efficiency, experience, and the most up-to-date plant obtainable”.

A section in the promotional booklet was also given over to the social services given to employees. A dispensary and surgery at the Blackpool plant was properly staffed and equipped by the management. Workers could have free medical attention. The brochure denoted a contentness in a great reduction in the number of days lost through illness. Other social services were the canteen, the recreation grounds and the football teams. In the canteen employees could purchase hot meals, cigarettes and chocolate. If they wished to bring their own meals with them, they could also eat them in comfort in the canteen along with their fellow-workers.

The booklet also denoted that when the (Second World) War broke out the firm immediately provided proper Air Raid Protection for the staff through building and equipping huge underground shelters. Fully-trained Air Raid Squads and a fully-equipped fire service were always ready to deal with an impending emergency.

To be continued…

Caption:

1280a. A representative pictured in the 1942 Sunbeam Wolsey Ltd promotional booklet of nearly a thousand Sunbeam Wolsey workers. This girl is operating a flatlock seaming machine for making flat-seamed underwear (source: Cork City Library).

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 14 November 2024

Cork History, Kieran's Council Work, Landscapes, Uncategorized
1279a. Worsted spinning plant of fast-spinning reels and flying threads at Sunbeam Wolsey Ltd, Blackpool, 1942 (source: Cork City Library).
1279a. Worsted spinning plant of fast-spinning reels and flying threads at Sunbeam Wolsey Ltd, Blackpool, 1942 (source: Cork City Library).

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 14 November 2024

Making an Irish Free State City – Further Growth for Sunbeam Wolsey

By the end of 1934 the Sunbeam Wolsey Partnership was doing well economically and striving into its future plans. The newly formed Company had been trading officially since the January 1934, with the benefit of the agreement with Wolsey Limited, Leicester, UK. The core Director, William Dwyer was concentrating on the development and manufacture of a complete range of hosiery and knitwear products. The Irish Press newspaper records on 7 December 1934 that new plant machinery from Germany had been installed for the manufacture of silk stockings and was capable of producing stockings of all types for the Irish market. The Company now employed a staff of nearly 600 as compared with 150 in December 1932.

For the year ended 30 June 1934, the trade exceeded the combined trade of Sunbeam Knitwear, Limited, and the Irish Free State trade of Wolsey Limited by approximately 25% as compared with the previous year. For the period from 1 July 1934 to 31 October 1934. the total trade of the Company showed a still further increase, being approximately 50 per cent greater than that of the corresponding period in 1933. The growth continued right throughout 1935 and 1936.

On 26 August 1936, the Irish Independent outlined the profits accrued in the Sunbeam Wolsey annual report, but also the core challenge of staff pay facing the Company. In particular William Dwyer outlined that there was an absence of a standard rate of pay for operatives in the industry. He drew on the returns of the Department of Industry and Commerce that cast a focus on the general conditions existing in the hosiery trade. There were three thousand workers in the trade, who were employed by sixty-live manufacturers. Six hundred of these were employed by Sunbeam Wolsey. The average pay of the workers in the sixty-four other factories was £40 per annum. The average earning of Sunbeam Wolsey was £60 per annum.

William Dwyer noted of the pay and the associated challenge of keeping it: “We pay 50 per cent, more than the average wage. The extra cost to us is £14,000 a year. Because of the number of factories, which have now started, the competition, which we are up against is practically altogether internal. That we can meet this competition and still pay 50 per cent higher wages to our workers is a clear at proof that our organisation is on the soundest possible basis”.

On 18 August 1937, A jump of over £8,400 in trading profits was shown in the report of Sunbeam Wolsey – the year ended for 30 June 1937 was £28,260 compared with £19,789 in June 1936.

The eleventh Ordinary General meeting of Sunbeam Wolsey, Limited, was held on 28 August 1939. Here, William Dwyer spoke about having bought outright the factory premises at Blackpool and having just completed the purchase of a new warehouse in Dublin.

William also reflected on the effects of the London Agreement or the ceasing of the Economic War with the UK on the hosiery manufacturing trade in the Irish Free State. He outlined that the duty on wool socks and stockings had been reduced, in some cases by two-thirds, and the duty on underwear had been likewise heavily reduced. Imports of wool hose had risen by approximately 80,000 dozens and of wool underwear by approximately 6,000 dozens, representing increases of over 200 per cent and 40 per cent respectively. 

William noted on the increased productivity; “I think that the comparison between our figures and imports this year goes conclusively to prove our claim that we produce goods equal in value and finish to any English goods. The demand for our fully fashioned silk hosiery has made it necessary for as nearly to double our plant. Some of our new machines are now in production and the full plant should be running within two months”. 

A year later at the twelfth Ordinary General Meeting of Sunbeam Wolsey Limited on 30 August 1940, William delivered his annual report in the context of the Second World War emerging. When the war broke out the Directors decided that every order on the Company’s books would be executed at the price at which the goods were sold to customers. It was planned that every endeavour was to be utilised to sell the products of the Company at a reasonable price as possible. William on this decision noted; “Even though costs of raw materials were soaring daily and advantage could easily had been taken for large price increases, we feel that the trade in general have appreciated this fact and that during the past year the goodwill of the trade to the Company has increased more than ever before”.

William continued his report commenting on the reduced overhead charges; “All the finished goods in your factory have already been sold for delivery within the next couple of months. Our stocks have been valued in the most conservative way possible. The prices of our goods to-day are very much lower than the price of similar goods sold in England. This is due to the very considerable decrease in the percentage of our overhead charges”.

William also commented that during the 1939-1940 year a subsidiary company called the Cork Spinning Company had created. Its aim was to supply practically all the requirements of the hosiery mill for worsted yarns at a very much lower price than that existing elsewhere. In addition to this the Cork Spinning Company installed a plant lor the throwing of pure silk. This branch of the business was started without any protective duties.

To be continued…

Caption:

1279a. Worsted spinning plant of fast-spinning reels and flying threads at Sunbeam Wolsey Ltd, Blackpool, 1942 (source: Cork City Library).

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 7 November 2024

Cork History, Kieran's Council Work, Uncategorized
1278a. Sunbeam Knitwear Ltd, Cork, Cork, Ireland, 1933; Oblique aerial photograph taken facing South (source: Britain From Above, Reference number: XPW042277 Ireland).
1278a. Sunbeam Knitwear Ltd, Cork, Cork, Ireland, 1933; Oblique aerial photograph taken facing South (source: Britain From Above, Reference number: XPW042277 Ireland).

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 7 November 2024

Making an Irish Free State City – Sunbeam & Wolsey Join Forces

The Cork Examiner on 3 March 1933 carried a paid and well-designed and impressive “catch the eye” advertisement stating “A New Home for a Mighty Irish Industry” for Sunbeam Knitwear Company in Blackpool. The machinery was the top of the range and comprised the latest models for interlock underwear hosiery. Such machines were manufactured by Messrs Wildt and Company at their Adelaide Works, Leicester and imported into Cork.

The furnishing of the several Sunbeam departments with benches, tables, presses, etc., was carried out by Messrs Eustace and Company, 9 St Patrick’s Street, Cork. The timber used in the offices of the managing director was supplied by Messrs E H Harte and Sons, Cork, who also supplied the Celotex, with which the factory was insulated. Messrs Murphy Bros., North Abbey Street, Cork, builders and contractors, were responsible for the joinery work, all of which was made and supplied by them. The plumbing and sanitary work was entrusted to Mr Joseph Horgan, plumber and sanitary engineer, of Ballintemple, Cork. All the electrical material for the lighting of the new factory, including all cables, conduit and special lighting units, were supplied by the General Electric Company Ltd, whose Cork address was “Magnet House”, 74 Grand Parade. The lighting installation of the factory was executed by Messrs Millard and Healy, electrical engineers, Paul Street, Cork.

As the year 1933 progressed, the aspirations for Sunbeam Knitwear Company remained high. In particular William Dwyer’s interest in learning from the knowledge of the UK knitwear market led him to not only bring machinery and staff into Cork from textile orientated cities such as Leicester, but also to team up with a prominent company in Leicester itself. On 1 August 1933, the Cork Examiner and Irish Press carried a paid advertisement and article declaring the Sunbeam Knitwear Company in Cork has amalgamated with the famous Wolsey Company of Leicester. In essence, the Cork company had acquired the Irish business end of Wolsey, which had its principal warehouse for the Irish market in Dublin. As a result of the acquisition the Cork company was subsequently renamed as Sunbeam Wolsey.

The Wolsey Company were widely known in the Irish and UK market. Established in 1755, the UK company had almost three centuries of experience. The firm’s headquarters was situated close to Leicester Abbey, the burial place of Cardinal Wolsey – hence the motif of his head on the Company’s logo.

The joint venture or deal so to speak went officially through in January 1934 and was administered on the Cork side by the Company’s Solicitor, Mr Barry M O’Meara, 18 South Mall. The deal was published in the Irish Press. It comprised the acquisition through a share holding mechanism of Wolsey Limited to Sunbeam Knitwear Limited  “of the goodwill of Wolsey Limited’s business in the Irish Free State and Wolsey’s Trade ‘Marks therein and its Leasehold premises and the allotment to Wolsey Limited, or its nominees of 17,054 Ordinary Shares of  £1 each in Sunbeam Knitwear. Limited”.

In essence, Wolsey Limited held 49 per cent of the shares of new Company of Sunbeam Wolsey or £17,054 in shares. In addition, the sale of the stock, fixtures furniture, etc at Wolsey’s Dublin Depot for £2,220 was to be paid in cash by Sunbeam Knitwear Company.

Wolsey Limited agreed not to manufacture or sell articles of clothing in the Irish Free State and Sunbeam Knitwear Limited agreed not to manufacture articles of clothing in the United Kingdom and to certain restrictions on sales in the United Kingdom.

The Agreement with Wolsey Limited provided for the supply, “on satisfactory terms”, of plant and machinery necessary for the development, of the business of Sunbeam Wolsey and the manufacture of its products in the Irish Free State. Wolsey Limited placed their knowledge and technical resources at the disposal of new company Sunbeam Wolsey.

The Irish Press of 1 August 1933 declared that the Wolsey Company excelled in its line of manufacture and that the new agreement heralded employment and cheaper prices for the consumer; “It is heartening to learn that the Sunbeam people have concluded an arrangement under which the products from the Cork factory will be largely increased, meaning that employment will be increased and that as a natural corollary there will be a more general diffusion of happiness in Cork and in the surrounding districts. The extension of the Cork Company means that the home purchaser, apart from securing. better finished articles, will get them at substantially lower prices…Making them [articles] within the Free State means that no customs duties will be payable, means that employment will be given at home and that an increased circulation of money will follow”.

The knowledge of the Directors on the Leicester side was impressive. Mr Ernest T Walker, who was chairman and managing director of Wolsey Limited, had been connected with the hosiery trade all his life, and was the grandson of the original founder of the firm of Messrs R Walker & Sons in 1834. His vast experience and intimate knowledge of every aspect of the hosiery trade have rendered his services of very great value as a representative of the industry on many councils and committees. Among his many activities Ernest was a Member of the Executive Council of the Federation of British Industries, a member of the Committee of the National Federation of Hosiery Manufacturers, a member of the Hosiery Joint Industrial Council and was an active member of the Leicester Chamber of Commerce.

Mr Alfred Salt was the Company Secretary of Wolsey Limited and joined the firm shortly after its formation as a public company. He was the lead person on the Leicester side in the negotiation with William Dwyer in Sunbeam Knitwear Company. Alfred received his training in the City of London with two of the largest and most eminent firms of chartered accountants and in 1926 was appointed a departmental director of the firm. In 1929 he was made a full Director with a seat on the Board. His appointment as Assistant Managing Director was made in January 1930. Alfred was a member of the Worshipful Company of Framework Knitters and also of the Executive Committee of the Management Research Groups.

To be continued…

Caption:

1278a. Sunbeam Knitwear Ltd, Cork, Cork, Ireland, 1933; Oblique aerial photograph taken facing South (source: Britain From Above, Reference number: XPW042277 Ireland).