Rubery, Owen & Company is born

By 1903, A.E. Owen, who had been trained as an engineer, was very much more active than his senior partner and the change in the relative strengths of the partners was reflected in the change of name to Rubery, Owen & Company.

Rubery withdrew from the partnership in 1910, and A.E. Owen became sole proprietor.

Owen had started manufacturing components for the aviation industry.

By 1912, five departments were operating, each of which was treated as a separate profit centre: Roofing; Fencing; Motor Frames; Engineering; Aviation.

Some of the most important products designed by Rubery Owen were the west stand at Twickenham Rugby Football Ground, the stadium for Wolverhampton Wanderers built in the 1930s, the flyover at Oxford Circus when the new Victoria Line was built in the 1960s, a similar structure for the Warwick/Coventry Road in Birmingham and in 1952 the College of Technology at Birmingham (now Aston University) which was opened by HM The Queen.

There are many examples of how the welfare of the employees was considered over the years.  A.E. Owen was a founder member of the Industrial Welfare Society (later the Industrial Society) and the company was the first in the Midlands to provide a canteen for its works people.  Recreation facilities were built as well for bowls, billiards and tennis and were always well used for pleasure as well as matches and competitions.  Christmas parties for the children of employees were one of the highlights of the year.

Women featured strongly, particularly in light engineering such as the production of bolts and nuts and light pressings.  Their nimble finger work particularly suited the process and there was great camaraderie along the line of working machines.  During the war, a nursery was formed at Rubery Owen to enable women to continue to work, while their children were safely looked after with qulified nurses in attendance.  Women workers featured strongly in the Black Country where the first ever 'Women's Institute' for workers was built in 1911.

Immediately after the Second World War, houses were built and rented out cheaply to attract young married couples into the firm, many coming from the North East and Wales to join what was the 'hey-day' of British manufacturing in the late 1950s and early 1960s.  In 1949, the Sons of Rest workshop was started for employees retiring from the shop floor.  Many felt suddenly they were being thrown on the scrap heap and the workshop not only enabled them to continue light work as and when it suited them, but aided production departments in the main factory with the supply of some awkward short run small components.  Later in the 1950s, Preparation for Retirment courses, the first ever in the country for industry, were started to help people to prepare and adjust for their retirement.

Apprenticeship schemes, both commercial and engineering, were started after the Second World War.  The engineers had their own training workshop to learn basic skills for the first year and then went out to different departments to be apprenticed to experienced workers.  The scheme was a by-word in the Black Country.  Owners of local firms sent their sons to learn their trade away from being the 'gaffer's son'.  The training could get you a job anywhere but most were taken up in the ever expanding departments.  These skills and knowledge lasted a life time. 

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