Banner Lane was the site of a wartime shadow factory in Coventry, England, run by Standard Motor Company and dedicated to making Bristol Hercules aero engines. The war-surplus plant was taken over by Standard in 1946 to make Ferguson tractors and it was made Standard's registered office. After the 1959 sale of Standard's part-ownership of the tractor partnership to Massey Ferguson, it became Massey Ferguson's base for tractor-building operations until production ceased in 2002 and the site was redeveloped for housing.
In May 1939, the Air Ministry sought a facility to manufacture Bristol Hercules aero engines and construction of a plant commenced later that year on an 80-acre (320,000 m2) [1] green-field site just outside Coventry. [2] With over 1 million square feet (93,000 m2) of floor space, the Banner Lane site was one of the largest shadow factories erected at Government expense, costing £1.7 million to build and set up for production. [1] The new plant luckily missed the summer and autumn 1940 bombing raids of the Coventry Blitz and was fully functioning before the end of that year. Its curious similarity to other shadow factories was because the buildings were designed by the Government's own architects. [2]
The business was run, for a £40,000 per annum management fee, by Standard Motor Company enabling products and plant to benefit from Standard's expertise in making similar, if much less complex, products. With some of the parts being produced at Rover's shadow factory at Acocks Green, [3] the Hercules engines were complex machines of 38.7 litres (2,360 cu in) capacity having 14 cylinders in two radial rows using sleeve valves rather than poppet valves, and with an output of 1,290–1,735 horsepower (960–1,294 kW) depending on application. [1] [2]
When production ended in 1945 more than 20,000 Hercules engines had been built. [2]
Other wartime products managed by Standard but made at Canley, the location of a further shadow factory nearby, included the Bristol Beaufighter and De Havilland Mosquito twin-engined fighter bombers together with a variety of other matériel. [2]
After the war the shadow factory was no longer required by Bristol. However, discussions between Standard and Harry Ferguson in 1945 to build Ferguson tractors in the UK resulted in Standard signing a 10-year lease for the Banner Lane plant costing £36,000 per annum. [1] The intention was to build up to 500 tractors per day [4] for which Standard would receive a fee for each one produced, [1] and from mid-1946 until the end of 1947 over 20,800 new tractors had been built. [2] At the height of production over 6,000 people were employed, and in 10 years more than 500,000 Ferguson TE tractors had been produced at Banner Lane. [1]
Disagreements between Standard and Ferguson culminated in Standard breaking all connections with both Ferguson and tractor production in the summer of 1959. By this time Harry Ferguson Ltd had formed a merger with Massey Harris to become Massey-Harris-Ferguson, later shortened to Massey Ferguson. [1] All Standard's tractor assets were sold to Massey Ferguson as of 31 August 1959 and Banner Lane entered the sole ownership of Massey Ferguson. [2]
By 2000, the plant covered 1.8 million ft2 (170,000 m2) and tractor output was in excess of 70,000 per annum, the majority for export; however, increasing numbers of Massey Ferguson tractors were being built elsewhere, most notably at Beauvais in France. In order to rationalise production it was decided that either Beauvais or Banner Lane would be shut down, but pressure from the French Government and workers made Beauvais the more difficult of the two to close, sealing Banner Lane's fate. [1] The tractors production line closed on Christmas Eve 2002 when the last tractor, number 3,307,996 was completed. The factory continued some operations into 2003 though, finishing partially complete tractors, as well as providing gearboxes and other machined parts to Beauvais whilst they prepared for production of the existing 4300 series which would continue there until 2004. This final Banner Lane-designed tractor series was then succeeded in the same year by the new 5400 series and lesser known Finnish-built 4400 series (Badge engineered Valtra A series).
The enormous task of decommissioning, demolition of the plant and site clearance ended with the demolition of the 16-storey tower block on 8 July 2012 using high-explosive charges. [1] [5] and a housing development called Bannerbrook Park now occupies the site on which it has been planned to build in the region of 1,000 new homes, together with an entire infrastructure including shops and a school. [1]
A Massey Ferguson memorial to the tractor production facility has been erected on the site. [1]
Banner Lane is the eponym of Banner Lane Ltd, an Executive Search firm founded at the site in 2020. The recruitment company is based in Royal Leamington Spa, United Kingdom and specialises in recruiting SC and DV cleared jobs within the UK Defence and Security sector. [6]
British Leyland was an automotive engineering and manufacturing conglomerate formed in the United Kingdom in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC), following the merger of Leyland Motors and British Motor Holdings. It was partly nationalised in 1975, when the UK government created a holding company called British Leyland, later renamed BL in 1978. It incorporated much of the British-owned motor vehicle industry, which in 1968 had a 40 per cent share of the UK car market, with its history going back to 1895. Despite containing profitable marques such as Jaguar, Rover, and Land Rover, as well as the best-selling Mini, BLMC had a troubled history, leading to its eventual collapse in 1975 and subsequent part-nationalisation.
The Standard Motor Company Limited was a motor vehicle manufacturer, founded in Coventry, England, in 1903 by Reginald Walter Maudslay. For many years, it manufactured Ferguson TE20 tractors powered by its Vanguard engine. All Standard's tractor assets were sold to Massey Ferguson in 1959. Standard purchased Triumph in 1945 and in 1959 officially changed its name to Standard-Triumph International and began to put the Triumph brand name on all its products. A new subsidiary took the name The Standard Motor Company Limited and took over the manufacture of the group's products.
Massey Ferguson Limited is an American agricultural machinery manufacturer. The company was established in 1953 through the merger of farm equipment makers Massey-Harris of Canada and the Ferguson Company of the United Kingdom. It was based in Toronto, then Brantford, Ontario, Canada, until 1988. The company transferred its headquarters in 1991 to Buffalo, New York, U.S. before it was acquired by AGCO, the new owner of its former competitor Allis-Chalmers. Massey Ferguson is among several brands in a portfolio produced and marketed by American industrial agricultural equipment conglomerate AGCO and a major seller in international markets around the world.
David Brown Santasalo, formerly David Brown Engineering, is an English engineering company, principally engaged in the manufacture of gears and gearboxes. Their major gear manufacturing plant is in Swan Lane, Lockwood, Huddersfield, adjacent to Lockwood railway station. It is named after the company's founder, David Brown, though it is more closely associated with his grandson, Sir David Brown (1904–1993).
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The Ferguson-Brown Company was a British agricultural machinery manufacturing company formed by Harry Ferguson in partnership with David Brown.
Henry George "Harry" Ferguson was a British mechanic and inventor who is noted for his role in the development of the modern agricultural tractor and its three point linkage system, for being the first person in Ireland to build and fly his own aeroplane, and for developing the first four-wheel drive Formula One car, the Ferguson P99.
The Ferguson TE20 is an agricultural tractor designed by Harry Ferguson. By far his most successful design, it was manufactured from 1946 until 1956, and was commonly known as the Little Grey Fergie. It marked a major advance in tractor design, distinguished by lightweight, small size, manoeuvrability and versatility. The TE20 popularised Harry Ferguson's invention of the hydraulic three-point hitch system around the world, and the system quickly became an international standard for tractors of all makes and sizes that has remained to this day. The tractor played a large part in introducing widespread mechanised agriculture. In many parts of the world the TE20 was the first tractor to be affordable to the average farmer and was small and light enough to replace the draft horse and manual labour. Many TE20s remain in regular use in farming and other work and the model is also a popular collector's item for enthusiasts today.
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