LG Harris & Co

Last updated

L. G. Harris & Co Ltd is a British manufacturer of paint brushes and decorating products founded in a workshop in Birmingham in 1928. It is the largest manufacturer of decorating paint brushes and painting products in the UK.

Contents

It was founded in 1928 as the Midland Trading Company. [1] The current company was incorporated in 1930, according to Open Corporates, incorporation date and renamed LG Harris in 1932. The business moved to Stoke Prior, near Bromsgrove in Worcestershire in 1936. [1] The family-run firm was acquired by Norwegian consumer products group Orkla Group in May 2016. [2]

Their brushes are primarily for the building trade and DIY markets. It is the largest brush manufacturer in the UK.

After completion of new buildings on Hanbury Road in 1959, and new warehousing in 1974 the company was operating from a 220,000 sq ft works, and in the 1980s owned over 2000 acres of woodland within a 20-mile radius as a source of the hardwood for the handles of its brushes. [3] The company expanded abroad investing in a Wholly Foreign-Owned Enterprise in China.

The founder, Leslie George Harris, ran his business on Quaker principles, and was a major sponsor of arts and music during the 1960s. [4] [5]

Recognition

In 1961, the company was awarded the Royal Warrant by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, for supply of its pig-bristle brushes and decorating tools to the Royal Sandringham Estate. [1] [6]

The company won the West Midlands Export Business of the Year in 2015. [7]

Local woodlands

LG Harris owned a number of plantations such as Little Goosehill Wood in Worcestershire [8] which it intended to use to produce handles, but sold these off in the 1980s.

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 About us, official website
  2. Birmingham Post May 2016 Historic paintbrush firm LG Harris acquired in £55m deal - Family-run Worcestershire group which was founded in the 1920s has been bought by Norwegian consumer products giant Orkla
  3. Forestry and British Timber 1980 - Volume 9 - Page 37 L.G. Harris & Co Ltd operate from a 220000 sq ft works at Stoke Prior in the heart of Worcestershire and own over 2000 acres of woodland within a 20-mile radius —— the source of the hardwood for the handles of its high quality brushes.
  4. The Connoisseur - Volume 163, Issues 655-658 1966- Page 41 Here and There THE Seventh Annual Arts Festival, organised by that enterprising brush manufacturer, Mr. L. G. Harris, at Stoke Prior, Worcestershire, promises to be of extraordinary interest and variety of subject.
  5. Management Today Alan Barclay.UK: THE RISE AND FALL OF THE FRIENDS. - Quality, service, and concern for the individual - these values guided a minor sect to great commercial heights in the early part of the century and still provide an example for industry today.
  6. They are also noted as possessing an IBM LC 1901 in 1969 in the British Commercial Computer Digest: Pergamon Computer Data Series By R. H. Williams, Pergamon Press 1969
  7. Harris brushes come out top in West Midlands awards, Bromsgrove Advertiser, 6 October 2015
  8. Woodland centre gets permission to stay...for now Worcester News, 15 December 2011

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Worcestershire</span> County of England

Worcestershire is a ceremonial county in the West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands county to the north, Warwickshire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south, and Herefordshire to the west. The city of Worcester is the largest settlement and the county town.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Midlands (county)</span> County of England

West Midlands is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the larger West Midlands region of England. A landlocked county, it is bordered by Staffordshire to the north and west, Worcestershire to the south, and is almost surrounded by Warwickshire to the east. The largest settlement is the city of Birmingham.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Midlands</span> Place in England

The Midlands is the central part of England, bordered by Wales, Northern England, Southern England and the North Sea. The Midlands correspond broadly to the early-medieval kingdom of Mercia, and later became important in the Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries. They are now split into two official regions, the West Midlands and East Midlands. The Midlands' biggest city, Birmingham, is the second-largest in the United Kingdom. Other important cities include Coventry, Derby, Leicester, Lincoln, Nottingham, Stoke-on-Trent, Wolverhampton, and Worcester.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Midlands (region)</span> Region of England

The West Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of International Territorial Level for statistical purposes. It covers the western half of the area known traditionally as the Midlands. The region consists of the counties of Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands and Worcestershire. The region has seven cities: Birmingham, Coventry, Hereford, Lichfield, Stoke-on-Trent, Wolverhampton and Worcester.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bromsgrove</span> Town in Worcestershire, England

Bromsgrove is a town in Worcestershire, England, about 16 miles (26 km) north-east of Worcester and 13 miles (21 km) south-west of Birmingham city centre. It had a population of 34,755 in at the 2021 census. It gives its name to the wider Bromsgrove District, of which it is the largest town and administrative centre. In the Middle Ages, it was a small market town, primarily producing cloth through the early modern period. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, it became a major centre for nail making.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Redditch</span> Town and borough in England

Redditch is a town and non-metropolitan district with borough status in Worcestershire, England. It is located south of Birmingham, east of Bromsgrove, north-west of Alcester and north-east of Worcester. In 2021, the town had a population of 81,637 and the district had a population of 87,037. In the 1800s, it became a centre for the needle and fishing tackle industry; by the end of the century, 90% of the world's needles were manufactured in the town and its surrounding areas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bromsgrove District</span> Non-metropolitan district in England

Bromsgrove is a local government district in north-east Worcestershire, England. It is named after its only town, Bromsgrove, where its council is based, but also includes several villages and surrounding rural areas. It borders the built-up area of Birmingham to the north. Other places in the district include Alvechurch, Aston Fields, Belbroughton, Catshill, Clent, Hagley, Rubery, Stoke Prior and Wythall. The population at the 2021 census was 99,475.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LG Electronics</span> South Korean multinational electronics company

LG Electronics Inc. is a South Korean multinational major appliance and consumer electronics corporation headquartered in Yeouido-dong, Seoul, South Korea. LG Electronics is a part of LG Corporation, the fourth largest chaebol in South Korea, and often considered as the pinnacle of LG Corp with the group's chemical and battery division LG Chem. It comprises four business units: home entertainment, mobility, home appliances & air solutions, and business solutions. LG Electronics acquired Zenith in 1995 and is the largest shareholder of LG Display, the world's largest display company by revenue in 2020. LG Electronics is also the world's second largest television manufacturer behind Samsung Electronics. The company has 128 operations worldwide, employing 83,000 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Midland Red</span> British bus company that operated from 1905 until 1981

Midland Red was a bus company that operated in The Midlands from 1905 until 1981. It was one of the largest English bus companies, operating over a large area between Gloucester in the south and Derbyshire in the north, and from Northampton to the Welsh border. The company also manufactured buses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GoldStar</span> South Korean electronics company (1958–2002)

GoldStar was a South Korean electronics company established in 1958. The corporate name was changed to LG Electronics and LG Cable on February 28, 1995, after merging with Lucky Chemical. LG Cable was spun off from LG Electronics and changed its name to LS Cable in 2005.

Vax UK Ltd is a British based brand that manufactures electrical goods and cleaning products in the floor-care and air treatment sectors, and which has its headquarters in the United Kingdom. Since 1999 the brand has been owned by a company called TTI Co. Ltd Group, which is based in Hong Kong. Vax UK Ltd has its main headquarters and R&D centre located in the city centre of Birmingham, West Midlands and a service, warehouse and depot operation in the village of Hampton Lovett, near Droitwich, Worcestershire. Vax branded machines are manufactured in China. Vax employs over 400 staff across its Birmingham and Droitwich sites in the UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diamond West Midlands</span> Bus operator in the West Midlands of England

Diamond Bus Ltd., trading as Diamond West Midlands, is a bus operator in the West Midlands. It is a subsidiary of Rotala.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chance Brothers</span> Former glass manufacturers in Smethwick, England

Chance Brothers and Company was a glassworks originally based in Spon Lane, Smethwick, West Midlands, in England. It was a leading glass manufacturer and a pioneer of British glassmaking technology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Worcester</span>

First Midland Red Buses, trading as First Worcester, is a bus company operating services in Herefordshire and Worcestershire in the English Midlands. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup, and is managed as part of the First West of England business unit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stoke Prior, Worcestershire</span> Human settlement in England

Stoke Prior is a village in the civil parish of Stoke in the Bromsgrove district of Worcestershire. The parish includes the settlement of Stoke Wharf and hamlet of Woodgate, along with neighbouring Stoke Heath.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dodford, Worcestershire</span> Human settlement in England

Dodford is a village in the Bromsgrove district of Worcestershire, England, approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Bromsgrove, officially founded on 2 July 1849 by members of the Chartist movement. It was one of five settlements created in the land scheme and retains a characteristic grid street plan, along with narrow lanes and many plum and pear trees from its market gardening past. The civil parish of Dodford with Grafton has a population of 731.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Worcestershire bus route 144</span> Bus route in Worcestershire, England

Worcestershire bus route 144 is a bus service connecting the Worcestershire areas of Catshill, Bromsgrove. Droitwich and Worcester, operated by First Worcestershire. The service dates back to 1914 and was one of the longest-running double-deck bus operated routes, though it is now more common for single decked buses to be used.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evolution of Worcestershire county boundaries since 1844</span>

The administrative boundaries of Worcestershire, England have been fluid for over 150 years since the first major changes in 1844. There were many detached parts of Worcestershire in the surrounding counties, and conversely there were islands of other counties within Worcestershire. The 1844 Counties Act began the process of eliminating these, but the process was not completed until 1966, when Dudley was absorbed into Staffordshire.

Cyril Edward Lloyd was an English businessman and Conservative Member of Parliament between 1922 and 1929, and again from 1941 to 1945. He was a member of the Lloyds banking family, but made his career in engineering, serving as chairman of N. Hingley & Sons Ltd for more than forty years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Francis</span> British businessman (born 1992)

Benjamin David Francis is a British businessman. He is the co-founder, CEO and majority owner of Gymshark, a fitness apparel and accessories company founded in 2012.

References