The Hoover Factory, situated in Pentrebach, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, opened on 19 October 1948 in order to manufacture Hoover washing machines. The initial workforce consisted of only 350 people but throughout the years, the growth of the company saw this figure rise to 5,000 in the 1960s and 70s. [1]
At its peak, the Hoover Factory was the largest employer in the borough.
Originally, the land that the Hoover factory stands on was a part of the Plymouth Ironworks, [2] an industry which epitomised the area during much of the 18th and 19th centuries. After the decline of this industry and after the closure of the ironworks in 1882, the area was in need of and had the space available for new industries.
Building of the Hoover Factory began in June 1946, with the first turf being cut by the Chairman and Managing Director of Hoover Ltd., C.B. Colston. [3] Construction was completed and the factory opened in October 1948 with VIP visitors from London present. [4]
When the factory first opened in 1948, it provided much needed employment for a relatively small number of people but after the growth of the white goods industry and the decline of coal mining in the area, the employment rates increased significantly. The factory was treated with a royal visit from Princess Margaret in 1950. [5]
Due to the growing demand of Hoover products, the factory underwent an extension during the late 60s/70s. This extension was officially opened with a visit from the Queen on the factory’s diamond jubilee in 1973. [6]
Previous workers at the factory describe the atmosphere workers experienced whilst working as pleasant and that workers of the factory were like a family with days filled with laughter and singing. [7] Previous employees felt the factory was more than a place to work. It had a number of sports teams and events and the Christmas parties held, not only for staff but for local children, giving the factory a real sense of community. [8]
In 1985, Sir Clive Sinclair’s, Sinclair C5 motor car, was launched and later produced at the Hoover Factory. After a few short months, the Sinclair C5 was deemed a failure and production stopped after Hoover took out a writ against Sinclair for £1.5 million of unpaid debt. [9]
During 1992, with a backlog of products, Michael Gilbey and Brian Webb, marketing executives at the Merthyr factory, thought they had the perfect solution to this particular problem. Their idea was to give two free flights to either Europe or America to each customer that purchased £100 worth of electrical goods. More than 200,000 people qualified for the flights during this promotion and unable to meet demand, Hoover lost a total of £20,000,000. [10]
After continuous financial problems, Hoover UK/Europe was sold to the Italian-based company, Candy, in 1995. Following the takeover, production continued but staff numbers fell. Further talk of job cuts continued throughout the 1990s and workers grew more concerned as the years went by.
In 2002, a fire tore through the factory which caused disruption to production and by 2004, amid talks of 130 job losses, the workers went on strike. [11]
Work continued in the Hoover factory until Candy announced that it would be moving production abroad to countries such as the Czech Republic and the Far East.
Final production in the Hoover factory, Pentrebach, ceased on 13 May 2009, 61 years after it first opened, with the remaining 337 members of staff being left unemployed. [12]
It is now used as a warehouse and distribution centre for domestic goods for Hoover Candy.
The Sinclair C5 is a small one-person battery electric recumbent tricycle, technically an "electrically assisted pedal cycle". It was the culmination of Sir Clive Sinclair's long-running interest in electric vehicles. Although widely described as an "electric car", Sinclair characterised it as a "vehicle, not a car".
The Taff Vale Railway (TVR) was a standard gauge railway in South Wales, built by the Taff Vale Railway Company to serve the iron and coal industries around Merthyr Tydfil and to connect them with docks in Cardiff. It was opened in stages in 1840 and 1841.
Merthyr Tydfil is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about 23 miles (37 km) north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydfil, daughter of King Brychan of Brycheiniog, who according to legend was slain at Merthyr by pagans about 480 CE. Merthyr generally means "martyr" in modern Welsh, but here closer to the Latin martyrium: a place of worship built over a martyr's relics. Similar place names in south Wales are Merthyr Cynog, Merthyr Dyfan and Merthyr Mawr.
The Hoover Company is a home appliance company founded in Ohio, United States. It also established a major base in the United Kingdom; and, mostly in the 20th century, it dominated the electric vacuum cleaner industry, to the point where the Hoover brand name became synonymous with vacuum cleaners and vacuuming in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Hoover North America was once part of Maytag, but was sold by Maytag's new owners Whirlpool Corporation in 2007 to Hong Kong multinational manufacturing company Techtronic Industries for $107 million. Hoover International had already split from Hoover North America in 1993, and was acquired by Candy in 1995, which was acquired by Haier in 2019.
The Rhymney Railway was a railway company in South Wales, founded to transport minerals and materials to and from collieries and ironworks in the Rhymney Valley of South Wales, and to docks in Cardiff. It opened a main line in 1858, and a limited passenger service was operated in addition.
Hirwaun is a village and community at the north end of the Cynon Valley in the County Borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales. It is 4 miles (6 km) NW of the town of Aberdare, and comes under the Aberdare post town. At the 2001 census, Hirwaun had a population of 4,851. increasing at the 2011 census to 4,990. The village is on the Heads of the Valleys Road and at the southern edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park.
Abernant is a small village north-east of the town of Aberdare, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Like many in the South Wales Valleys, it was once a coal-mining village.
The Cyfarthfa Ironworks were major 18th- and 19th-century ironworks in Cyfarthfa, on the north-western edge of Merthyr Tydfil, in South West Wales.
Pentrebach is a village in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales and is formed from the original settlements of Lower Pentrebach, Tai-bach and Duffryn.
Merthyr RFC is a Welsh rugby union club based in Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales. Merthyr RFC are members of the Welsh Rugby Union, playing in the Principality Premiership, and are a feeder club for Cardiff Rugby.
Dowlais is a village and community of the county borough of Merthyr Tydfil, in Wales. At the 2011 census the electoral ward had a population of 6,926, The population of the Community being 4,270 at the 2011 census having excluded Pant. Dowlais is notable within Wales and Britain for its historic association with ironworking; once employing, through the Dowlais Iron Company, over 7,000 people, the works being the largest in the world at one stage.
The A4060, also known as the East of Abercynon to East of Dowlais Trunk Road, is a trunk road in Wales.
Penydarren is a community and electoral ward in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough in Wales.
Cyfarthfa is a community and electoral ward in the west of the town of Merthyr Tydfil in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales.
Hirwaun was a railway station serving the village of Hirwaun in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales.
Merthyr Tydfil County Borough is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. In mid 2018, it had an estimated population of 60,183 making it the smallest local authority in Wales by both population and land area. It is located in the historic county of Glamorgan and takes its name from the town with the same name. The county borough consists of the northern part of the Taff Valley and the smaller neighbouring Taff Bargoed Valley. It borders the counties of Rhondda Cynon Taf to the west, Caerphilly County Borough to the east, and Powys to the north.
Joseph Parry's Cottage, also known as 4 Chapel Row, is a cottage located in Merthyr Tydfil, in South Wales. Built in the early 19th century for ironworkers, the cottage is best known as the birthplace of the famous Welsh composer Joseph Parry (1841–1903). It is now open to the public as a museum.
Islwyn Jones is a Welsh former professional footballer. He made 26 appearances in the Football League for Cardiff City.
Plymouth is the name of an electoral ward of Merthyr Tydfil, in Wales. It is coterminous with the community of Troed-y-rhiw.
The Industrial Revolution in Wales was the adoption and developments of new technologies in Wales in the 18th and 19th centuries as part of the Industrial Revolution, resulting in increases in the scale of industry in Wales.