30-836: Morphy Richards is a British brand of electrical appliances headquartered in Swinton , in South Yorkshire , England . Its products were formerly made at its historic home of Mexborough , and in other facilities across the United Kingdom . However, since the 1990s, all of its manufacturing has been carried out in the Far East . Morphy Richards specialises in toasters , hair dryers, bread makers , kettles and sandwich toasters and other household appliances. In its early stage it also made refrigerators and washer-dryers , but they were later made by Hotpoint . Morphy Richards
60-506: A company in Dundee , Scotland that made spin dryers and refrigerators. Astral became a wholly owned subsidiary. George Wansbrough was the company chairman from 1944 to 1954. In 1949, Morphy Richards produced its first automatic toaster which used a bi-metallic strip . It also produced the Simon electric floor scrubber . In 1953, it produced its first hairdryer and claimed to have 90% of
90-604: Is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham , in South Yorkshire , England on the west bank of the River Don . It has a population of 15,559 (2011). The town is five miles north-northeast of the larger town of Rotherham and south-west of Mexborough . The original junior and infant school building built in 1852 on Church Street (formerly Fitzwilliam School) still exists, and is being converted into residential apartments called Fitzwilliam Lodge. The town
120-890: Is owned by the Irish Glen Dimplex electronics group. They also make Digital Radio Mondiale -compatible digital radios, and Morphy Richards in India still make a dry iron, one of very few companies to do so. Donal Morphy of Chislehurst , and Charles Richards of Farnborough , Kent, met whilst working at Sydney S Bird and Sons and formed Morphy-Richards Ltd on 8 July 1936 at an oast house in St Mary Cray in Kent . Morphy and Richards were joint managing directors, and had raised £1,000 starting capital. The company began making electric fires and, from March 1938, electric irons. During World War II , its factories made components for
150-558: Is situated on a hillside. The higher areas generally contain older dwellings, and the lower, newer build properties. The lowest part of the town contains two main rail lines, the River Don, the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation canal and the derelict Dearne and Dove Canal . Following the decline of traditional industries and after the 1980s miners' strike , employment is provided predominantly by service and light industry in
180-860: The Holborn Bars in High Holborn completed in 1906, the Cunard Building in Liverpool completed in 1917, the Cenotaph in London completed in 1920, County Hall, London completed in 1922, Ironmongers' Hall completed in 1925, Unilever House completed in 1930, South Africa House in London completed in 1933, the Senate building of the University of London completed in 1937,
210-553: The Manvers area. Surviving in the area of railway lines and canals is a boat yard with a limited barge repair and transport business, and timber milling and woodworking facilities. The Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation canal, once a major transport route between Sheffield and Goole , underwent substantial modernisation in the mid-1980s and is capable of accommodating large vessels as far as Rotherham , and pleasure craft through to Sheffield. Limited bulk freight has returned to
240-775: The Mulberry harbour units. In the 1960s, when Lord Ashcombe was the Chairman of the company, it held a major stake in ACI Property Corporation, the developer for the Le Cartier Apartments in Montreal . The company was acquired by Drake & Gorham Scull in 1969 and then by Tarmac in 1976 and subsequently integrated into Tarmac Construction . The combined business went on to construct many important buildings and structures including
270-626: The Chinese company Guangdong Xinbao Electrical Appliance Holdings (Xinbao), known for its brand Donlim. Xinbao, which manufactured Morphy Richards products in China for Glen Dimplex, bought the brand globally, but was initially taking full control of only the Chinese and British operations. Glen Dimplex retained the rights to distribute the brand under in Ireland, Australia and New Zealand for at least 10 years. Swinton, South Yorkshire Swinton
300-512: The Morphy Richards brand. On 25 May 1975, Donal Morphy died, aged 74. In April 1982, the company sold Morphy Richards for £5 million to a holding company owned by The Throgmorton Trust , Capital for Industry. On 10 May 1985, Morphy Richards was acquired by Glen Dimplex of Ireland. From the end of the 1980s, the company was once again very successful with advances in electronics making their way into domestic appliances. Morphy Richards
330-701: The United Kingdom. In June 1957, the company bought Yelsen Ltd, a manufacturer of electric blankets at Ruxley in Kent, for £112,000, and it became a subsidiary. Also in June, new factories opened at the main site and in Dundee. 40% of products were exported and overseas subsidiaries had been established. Donal Morphy did not like the huge expansion of the company, but Richards thought it was too slow. Sir Patrick Bishop became chairman in 1957. Morphy sold his share of
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#1732779567530360-487: The aircraft industry. A. Reyrolle & Company took 30% of the company in June 1944 and its general manager was on the board of directors. Exports accounted for around 15% of turnover, helped by subsidiary companies in Australia and South Africa. It later opened a Canadian subsidiary. The company was producing around 2,000 irons per day. On 1 May 1947, it became a public company and merged with Astral Equipment Ltd,
390-402: The area of the pottery finds. It found evidence of a Roman ditch and a possible Roman field system and numerous pieces of pottery from the late 1st to mid 3rd centuries. Further archaeological excavation was undertaken in spring 2015 and a comprehensive geophysical survey of Swinton Fitzwilliam school playing fields. Further work is planned with Elmet Archaeology and the local community. The town
420-568: The brand name in the Indian market. In October 2003, the Morphy Richards factory at Bangor , in County Down , was closed, with 84 employees losing their jobs, due to manufacturing being transferred from the United Kingdom to East Asia . In 2007, Astral Equipment was merged with Morphy Richards and renamed Morphy Richards Astral, producing refrigerators. In June 2022, it was reported that Glen Dimplex had agreed to sell Morphy Richards to
450-459: The canal with use of the modern Swinton Lock. The town was without a railway station between January 1968, when the old station was closed as part of the Beeching cuts, and 1991, when a new station was opened after the restoration of the double track "Swinton Curve" (also known as the "Foundry Curve"), enabling trains to travel from Sheffield to Doncaster . Increased passenger usage led to
480-468: The chairman, Sir Patrick Bishop, resigned, and Richards left the board. Morphy also left as managing director, but stayed on the board. Graham Hurst became managing director. By March 1961, Richards had joined GEC as joint managing director of its electrical appliance division. On 12 May 1961, a new £500,000 factory at Dundee built by Holland, Hannen & Cubitts was opened by the then Minister of Power , Richard Wood, Baron Holderness . The Dundee site
510-624: The company to EMI (Electric and Musical Industries) in August 1960, and it then tried to take over the company, as did Philips Electrical Industries. Morphy supported the EMI offer, but Richards did not. However, EMI took over the company in September 1960. In the late 1950s, the company had developed the Silavent ventilation system, manufactured for them by Robert McArd & Co. In December 1960,
540-493: The great buildings of London . The company was formed from the fusion of two well-established building houses that had competed throughout the later decades of the nineteenth century but came together in 1883: this was implemented by Holland & Hannen acquiring Cubitts, a business founded by Thomas Cubitt some 70 years before. During the Second World War the company was one of the contractors engaged in building
570-404: The market six years later. In 1954, it introduced a steam iron , which were still comparatively revolutionary twenty years later. At the same time, it introduced electrical convector heaters and panel heaters ( ceramic heaters ). By 1957, it was the United Kingdom's leading provider of electric blankets , had produced its 10 millionth electric iron, and was producing 60% of the toasters made in
600-768: The north east of Sheffield, to Mexborough) and the south west Roman road from Doncaster (the Roman fort and minor settlement of Danum). A coin hoard dating to the early 3rd century was excavated during the construction of a house cellar in the village in 1853. In June 2014, Andrew Allen uncovered a number of pottery sherds whilst gardening at home. Preliminary observations found that it comprised approximately 90 pottery sherds, including high status Samian ware, traditional cooking wares and rusticated pottery, as well as possible metal and glass working waste products. In October 2014, South Yorkshire's first crowd-funded archaeological project [1] commenced with an archaeological excavation in
630-651: The original kilns, the Rockingham, or Waterloo, Kiln , a small part of the factory, a gatehouse (both now private residences) and the pottery flint millpond remain today in Pottery Ponds, a small park off Blackamoor Road near the Woodman public house. Swinton was also the site of the important but lesser known Don Pottery . The village lies between the Roman Ridge (extending approximately from Wincobank to
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#1732779567530660-427: The outskirts of Swinton are Dearne Valley College and the empty Humphry Davy House which was used for nursing studies by Sheffield University . Swinton has 14 public houses commonly called "The Swinton Mile", which range from typical Yorkshire pubs serving food, modern bars, and a working men's club . Industrial premises on Swinton's boundary with Kilnhurst were occupied by Croda Hydrocarbons , who took over
690-408: The provision of a portable building staffed for morning peak times only. It was replaced by a brick building housing a ticket office and waiting room. Some local bus services connect with trains at this facility. Swinton's secondary school, with sixth form college, is Swinton Academy . It teaches pupils from age 11 to 18. The school was scheduled to be rebuilt on the current site but the scrapping of
720-452: The rebuilding schools programme by the coalition government of the time meant that the school will not have a new building. There are also several primary schools and nurseries, including Swinton Fitzwilliam Primary, Swinton Queen Primary School and Brookfield Primary School. Swinton Queen Primary School was rebuilt and opened in March 2011 with the old school buildings being demolished. On
750-401: The works from Midland and Yorkshire Tar Distillers. The site is controversial owing to pollution during the plant operations. Despite this planning permission was granted to build domestic dwellings. A Validation Certificate has been issued and work by Gleeson Homes started. Holland, Hannen %26 Cubitts Holland, Hannen & Cubitts was a major building firm responsible for many of
780-528: Was employing about 4,000 people. The headquarters of BDA was at Peterborough , the site of the main Hotpoint factory. In September 1967, GEC announced it wanted to take over AEI and, on 24 May 1968, GEC agreed to merge its domestic appliance division with BDA. EMI would own a third, and GEC two thirds. The managing director of BDA from September 1966, Laurence Peterken, was the new managing director, but he left two weeks later. The domestic appliance manufacture
810-886: Was managed by Willis Roxburgh until July 1966, and produced around a quarter of all fridges in the United Kingdom. By 1962, it was exporting to over 120 countries. In August 1962, the company appointed Faber Birren to give advice on colours of products. On 7 December 1962, Richards joined the board of directors of GEC. In October 1963, it took over the record player division of EMI. On 15 November 1964, Charles Richards died aged 64 at his house in Buckinghamshire . In February 1965, there were discussions with English Electric to merge their large appliance divisions. In April 1965, Norman Tomlinson became managing director. On 26 May 1966, EMI and AEI, owners of Hotpoint , decided to merge their domestic appliance divisions to form British Domestic Appliances (BDA) from 1 July 1966. Morphy Richards
840-674: Was moved to the Swinton Works at Mexborough and, in 1970, the original factory in St Mary Cray, which employed around 1,200 people, was closed. The nearby Ruxley factory manufactured kettles and coffee percolators . In January 1970, it was decided to remove the Morphy Richards brand from refrigerators. It was argued that GEC had little interest in Morphy Richards. In the 1970s, BDA was the United Kingdom's largest manufacturer of domestic appliances. BDA changed its name to Hotpoint in 1975, with small domestic appliances marketed under
870-479: Was once a centre for the manufacture of pottery of international importance, and deep coal mining , glassmaking , canal barge-building and engineering . It is known for the Rockingham Pottery , a world-renowned manufacturer of porcelain. Although the factory closed in 1842, its name defines a style of rococo porcelain. There were several other potteries in the area during the 19th century. One of
900-559: Was one of the few manufacturers to sell appliances with a factory-fitted BS 1363 plug before it became a legal requirement. In June 2000, the Morphy Richards factory at Mexborough announced the dismissal of 120 staff, citing increasingly adverse trading circumstances for its domestically made products, due to their displacement in the market by cheaper imports made in East Asia. In 2002, Bajaj Electricals partnered with Morphy Richards to make, sell, market and distribute products under
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