Memories of Stoke-on-Trent people - Ken
Green
Ken Green
A
Life in the Ceramic Tile Industry
section 11
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Company policy was to keep production in the UK. Countries without an indigenous tile production and wanting to have one were putting pressure on us. South American countries had got used to the USA produced 4 ¼ by 4 ¼ by 5/16inch thick format. They began, starting with Venezuela, to impose a duty according to weight of consignment. We responded, with the agreement of our customers, by reducing the 5/16inch thickness (8mm) to 4mm. We were, of course, only delaying things because duties were increased again..
The Australian authorities used different tactics. They wanted an indigenous tile industry and would no longer accept our excuses of “technical difficulties”. They gave us a deadline for the imposition of tariffs on glazed (finished) tiles. In the meantime, we were to be allowed to import biscuit tiles from the UK into Australia, free of duty, for completion there, but only for a limited period of time. We made our plans accordingly and the first stage was implemented in 1959.
We purchased, together with Armitage Ware, land at Coburg in the northern suburbs of Melbourne. Armitage built a sanitaryware factory and Richards built a factory for the glazing of biscuit blanks imported from Richards, Stoke-on-Trent. The glaze was also imported from Richards, Tunstall as a dry powder and only needed reconstituting with water.
All equipments were sent from, and were identical to, those in use in UK. The tunnel kilns were built by Bricesco of Stoke-on-Trent and were also identical to those in use back home. It was an example of industrial cloning.
The most important part of the operation was to have key people to go to Australia on a permanent basis. Time and events showed that Richards was fortunate, indeed, with the people who went from Stoke to Australia in 1959 and with those who followed:
They were Joe and Evelyn Harvey and family,
Michael and Rita Kaniuka and family and Harold,
May Wainwright and family.Joe had been in charge of quality inspection at the Pinnox factory, Michael had worked in the glaze application department at Pinnox, Rita had been a tile presser at Pinnox and Harold had been a tunnel kiln fireman at Pinnox.
The three families went by ship to Melbourne and, after a short period, moved into company houses (after a few years they bought their own very attractive properties). Andrew Corn (son of the Chairman) flew out to join them and manage the factory. Local employees were recruited and we received news in Tunstall that the first tiles had emerged from the kiln on 5th November 1959. Graham and Eileen Mee went to Melbourne in 1960. Graham had been assistant to Ian Munroe, manager of the Pinnox factory, and he took over from Andrew who returned to UK.
H & R Johnson later constructed a similar plant at Croydon in the southern suburbs of Melbourne. Their first overseas factory had been operating since 1952 in South Africa. The Johnson family had many connections with that country and Derek Johnson served in the South African Army throughout the Second World War, including the North African and Italian campaigns.
previous: AG3 Biscuit
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next: summary of 1960/67