- Platt Brothers
Infobox Defunct Company
company_name = Platt Brothers & Co Ltd
company_logo =
slogan =
fate =
successor =
foundation = 1770
defunct = 1982
location = Werneth,Oldham ,England
industry =
key_people = Henry Platt
products = Textile-processing machinery
num_employees = 15,000
parent =
subsid =Platt Brothers & Co Ltd, (also known as Platt Bros. of Oldham) was a British company based at
Oldham , inNorth West England . They were textile machinery manufacturers, iron founders andcolliery proprietors, and by the end of the 19th century, had become the largest textile machinery company in the world, employing over 15,000 workers.Fact|date=June 2007Foundation
The company was founded by Henry Platt, in 1770, in
Dobcross , inSaddleworth , to the east ofOldham . In c. 1820 the company moved to the Werneth area of Oldham. By the mid 1850s the company had established its self as the world's largest textile machinery manufacturer.Fact|date=June 2007Politics
Henry Platt's son, John Platt (1817 – 1872), was elected the first Liberal Mayor of Oldham in 1854, an office he was to hold twice more in 1855-56, and 1861-62. John Platt also served as Member of Parliament for Oldham from 1865 until his death in 1872.cite book|title=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: Platt family by D.A. Farnie]
John Platt's younger brother James Platt (1824 - 1857), was also elected MP for Oldham in 1857, but died the same year.
Later history
Just before the
First World War the company reached its peak, with the workforce numbering over 15,000 people, and the massive Hartford Works at Werneth covering over 85 acres of land. The Platt Company was the largest employer inOldham and the largest maker of cotton-processing machinery inLancashire and hence in the world.Fact|date=June 2007The fortunes of Platt Brothers were to mirror those of the Lancashire cotton industry in later years, and the company began a slow, steady decline. The company's home market gradually disappeared as large numbers of Lancashire cotton mills began to close, and in export markets the company faced tough competition from foreign textile machinery companies. The final end (at least for its Oldham operations) came in 1982 when the company closed its Oldham factory. Having been taken over in the 1960's the resultant "Platt Saco Lowell" (who had a factory in Accrington) had grave financial problems. [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb4298/is_199303/ai_n14956340 Hollingsworth unit put on block; Platt Saco Lowell has been operating in the red. (John D. Hollingsworth on Wheels) (Brief Article) | Daily News Record | Find Articles at BNET.com ] ] The "Platt" name (and support for Platt products) continues. [ [http://www.platt.co.uk/history2.htm history ] ]
An interesting link exists between the history of Platt Brothers and that of the
Toyota company ofJapan . In 1929, Platt Brothers bought the patent rights for an innovative automatic weaving loom designed by Toyota. Although Toyota is now best known as an automotive company, it actually began as a textile machinery manufacturer. [http://www.toyota-industries.com/corporateinfo/history/ 1867 - 1929 | History - TOYOTA INDUSTRIES CORPORATION ] ]ee also
*
Timeline of clothing and textiles technology
*History of Oldham
*Edmund Cartwright
*Samuel Crompton
*Cotton mill
*Mill town
*Factory system
*Bagley & Wright References
External links
* [http://www.spinningtheweb.org.uk/ History of Lancashire cotton industry]
* [http://www.platt.co.uk/history2.htm Platt company history]
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