Gramaphone Factory, Blyth Road, Hayes, Middlesex
The Gramophone Company Ltd was founded in 1898 by William Barry Owen, a former director of the American National Gramophone Company. In 1900, it became The Gramophone & Typewriter Ltd. (Records issued by the company before February 1908 were generally referred to as "G&Ts" and bore the company trademark of an angel).
Towards the end of 1906 the Board realised that the pressing plant in Hanover did not have sufficient capacity to meet the demand for gramophone records, and it was decided to build new factory premises in England. This plan, announced at the seventh annual general meeting in October 1906, resulted in a letter from Marshall Robinson (both a shareholder in the company and an architect) offering his services to design the new factory and to supervise its construction. After the November 14th Board Meeting Marshall Robinson was appointed to carry out these tasks and was sent to Hanover to meet Joseph Berliner and discuss the requirements. Robinson was also instructed by the Board of Directors to negotiate with the Hayes Development Company Ltd. for the purchase of some land they owned. Eventually a greenfield site of some 11 acres at Blyth Road. Hayes were purchased for £7,000. The site had the advantage of backing on to the railway allowing sidings to be provided for direct connection to the rail network. Betraying his northern origins, Marshall Robinson produced a design for a single-storey factory on the north-light principal, little different from the weaving sheds of the Lancashire cotton industry which abounded in his home town of Bolton. As a result of the commission Robinson had opened a branch office in London, and thus, according to the Builder, had become a London architect.
On 9 February 1907 the eminent tenor Edward Lloyd cut the first sod on the site and on 13 May Madame (later Dame) Nellie Melba lays the foundation stone for the Power House. By the time of the eighth ordinary general meeting the building was all but complete and fitting out had commenced. Optimistically it was hoped that record production would start early in 1908. However, it was not until June that the first record was pressed, with commercial production at the Hayes site starting in July. In November 1907 the company had changed its name again to the Gramophone Company Ltd. The following year the company’s records were sold under the name ‘His Masters Voice’ (HMV) Records, most labels bearing the famous trademark of a dog listening to a gramophone.
Between 1908-1909 the profits of The Gramophone Company Ltd. dropped to £59,000. This was apparently caused by the inability of Eldridge Johnson to supply cheap gramophones. The directors decided to erect a cabinet factory at Hayes costing some £45,000. This building, which occupied some 5 acres, was designed by R. Langton Cole and was one of the first buildings to be constructed from ferro-concrete. Expansion of the site continued. In 1913 Cole produced designs for a six-storey building, while in 1911 Sir Reginald Blomfield designed new offices.
GRAMOPHONE AND TYPEWRITER (LIMITED) - The seventh ordinary general meeting was held yesterday at the offices, City-road. …. Considerable expenditure would have to be incurred during the current year. Their factory in Hanover was not equal in capacity to the demands of their selling organization, and it had therefore been decided to erect a factory in England, which it was hoped, would in course of time take care certainly of greater part of requirements of the business. It had also been decided to erect pressing plants in Spain and in India. [Times 16 October 1906 page 13]
GRAMOPHONE FACTORY - Work has been commenced upon the new factory for the Gramophone & Typewriter, Ltd., at Hayes, Middlesex. The factory, will be on the single-story, north-light principle, and is to be completed before midsummer. The site, containing about 11 acres, is of sufficient area to allow of future extension of the works. The architect is Mr. Marshall Robinson, of London, and the contractors Messrs Henry Lovatt, Ltd., of Wolverhampton. [Builder 12 January 1907 page 41]
THE GRAMOPHONE AND TYPEWRITER LIMITED - The EIGHTH ORDINARY GENERAL MEETING of the shareholders was held at the registered offices, City-road, yesterday. …. The business was increasing, and their expansion commitments, especially in the way of factories, were very large. Since they met a year ago a record factory sufficient for the needs of the Spanish trade had been erected in Barcelona, and still larger factories were in course of erection in Paris and Calcutta. There was also their large new factory at Hayes. With reference to the new factory at Hayes, the freehold of the land, about 11 acres in extent, was purchased by the company in December last. The site was in every way most suitable for their purposes, and it was only ten miles from London. The first sod was turned by Mr. Edward Lloyd in February last, and the corner-stone of the new building was laid by Mme. Melba in June last. The building to-day was completed, the installation was proceeding rapidly, and it was hoped that the factory would be in full working order early in the new year. if the business continued to increase as it was at the present time it was quite possible that in a very few years the capacity of the new building, large as it was, would be totally inadequate to the demands of their selling organization. If so, they had room enough for extension. [Times Financial and Commercial Supplement 25 October 1907 page 5
Reference Times 16 October 1906 page 13
Reference Times Financial and Commercial Supplement 25 October 1907 page 5
Reference Builder 12 January 1907 page 41
Reference “Hillandale News 142" March 1988
Reference "Hillandale News 197” April 1994
