Celebrating a legacy of engineering excellence

Celebrating a legacy of engineering excellence
Contents
3
Celebrating 140 Years
4
A & J Gummers - A Business Partnership
5
The Gummers Story
6
The Effingham Brass Works and Gummers
7
G & WG Gummer Limited
8
George Gummer
9
The Akerman & Jeavons Story
11
A & J Gummers - A New Era
12
Employees then and now
14
2011 and Beyond
Celebrating
140 Years
In 1871, William Gummer started
the Effingham Brass Works in
Glasshouse Lane, Rotherham,
supplying fine quality bath and WC
fittings for hospitals, ships and
hotels including the Ritz and the
Strand in London.
140 years later and the business may have
enjoyed a couple of changes in name and
branched out into other areas including
boilers and water gauges, but the core of its
trade remains the same; supplying quality
taps and showers for commercial projects.
The name of the company may be changing,
but we are determined to keep its legacy alive
by continuing to celebrate its rich history. For
this reason, we have produced this special
edition book which documents Gummers'
beginnings in 1871 until the present day.
Looking forward, we will also continue to use
the experience and knowledge of longstanding
employees to help influence product design
and ensure Bristan is a leading supplier of
commercial water controls.
I do hope that you enjoy your journey through
the history of this fantastic company.
Thank you
A & J Gummers (or Gummers as it is widely
known) has been part of Bristan Group, the
UK’s largest supplier of taps and showers,
since 2006. From July 2011, A & J Gummers
will be rebranded to Bristan.
Jeremy Ling
CEO Bristan Group
3
A & J Gummers A Business Partnership
In 1985, the Birmingham company
Akerman & Jeavons and the
Rotherham Company Gummers
Ltd formally merged to form a new
company called A & J Gummers.
The business history of the firm begins in late
Victorian England in Rotherham, South
Yorkshire, with an enterprising family
called Gummer.
View of G department (circa 1950)
Back cover of an
Akerman & Jeavons
brochure (circa 1970)
4
Gummers was
established in 1871 as a
quality commercial water
fittings supplier
Rotherham was a typical, late Victorian
industrial town, with many businesses
manufacturing a variety of products, including
stove grates and nails. Rotherham, like
Birmingham, was also known as a centre for
the brass trade, particularly the manufacture
of brass fittings for use in connection with the
steam and water industries. Rotherham brass
fittings were exported across the globe and its
products had a world-wide reputation.
Rotherham also benefited from being in
the midst of a district abounding in
mineral wealth.
The Gummers Story
The Gummers’ story begins in
1830 in Lyme Regis, Dorset with
the birth of William Henry
Gummer. His father was a mason
and the young William left Dorset
in 1850 at the age of 20 to find
work in the North of England
where jobs were plentiful. His
brother Richard, who was a
plasterer, had arrived in
Rotherham a few months before,
so William joined him there.
William worked as a joiner when he first
arrived in Rotherham, before becoming an
auctioneer and valuer. In January 1909, the
Rotherham Advertiser described William
Gummer: ‘He had commenced work at six
years of age, had picked copper on the sea
shore and carried it back to the town, a
distance of three miles – at five pence per
hundredweight. He had been sailor, joiner,
builder contractor…’ By the end of his long
and distinguished career in business in
Rotherham, William Gummer had been a
Councillor for the town for 15 years, an
Alderman for ten years and was twice Mayor
of the Borough.
George Gummer tells us in the book that his
father had been to the races on the day of his
birth and for the first and last time decided to
make a bet on the result. He was so excited
when he arrived home and heard that he had
a son that he wanted to name him after the
horse that had won him his bet. ‘Fortunately
for me’, explained George in the book, ‘my
mother’s protests prevailed.’
In 1861, William was living at 29 Crofts in
Rotherham and his brother Richard was living
in Forge Lane in the town.
William and Richard had an eye for business
and they built cottages on the undeveloped
Effingham Estate in Rotherham, which would
eventually become a new part of the town.
In January 1909, the Rotherham Advertiser
described how William had: ‘Opened up the
Effingham Estate, despite the opinion of his
neighbours that he was doing ‘a mad sort of
thing’. Their opinions proved to be unfounded
as the brothers’ building and business
ventures became extremely successful.
Canvas painting of George Gummer, 1900
(Copyright and courtesy of Rotherham Museums,
Galleries and Heritage Service)
On September 12th, 1855, William had a son,
George Gummer, who was also to become
highly important in Rotherham. He wrote a
book called Reminiscences of Rotherham,
which was published in 1927, and this tells us
more about the Gummers in business and
about their family life.
5
The Effingham Brass
Works and Gummers
William Gummer started the
Effingham Brass Works in
Glasshouse Lane, on the
Effingham Estate, in 1871. He was
living next to his brother Richard
in Stanley Street at this time.
He began the brass business with a partner
called Tom Greenwood and they named their
venture Gummer and Greenwood. It was,
according to the Rotherham Advertiser, ‘a very
small baby, industrially speaking, only
employing seven or eight heads at the starting
and never more than 14 during the time it was
carried out in Glasshouse Lane.’ But, also
according to the newspaper, the business had
‘push and brains’ and Gummers would go on
to be one of the biggest industrial companies
in Rotherham.
The original Effingham Brass Works
Tom Greenwood was originally an employee of
Guest and Chrimes, who were brass founders,
and he then worked from a small shop in
premises at the back of the Effingham Works.
‘After a few years trading,’ said George
Gummer in Reminiscences, Tom ‘succeeded
in obtaining as a partner my father, the firm
being Gummer and Greenwood. In 1875 I
joined the firm, having served an
apprenticeship in another trade.’
Also in Reminiscences, George shared the
following story about the Effingham Brass
Works: ‘One thing that always amused me was
that Greenwood always came to work in a top
hat. As he had to don the apron and work on
the lathe, I never quite got accustomed to
this peculiarity’
6
Within six years of business, the Glasshouse
Lane site was too small for the growing
business and in 1877 the Gummers firm
moved to a new site in Rawmarsh Road,
Rotherham, part of which had been occupied
by the Myers Match Works. Tom Greenwood
was bought out of the partnership at the same
time. In Reminiscences, George Gummer says
this was due to a disagreement between his
father and Greenwood, but the precise
reasons for this remain unknown.
According to the 1881 and 1891 censuses,
William Gummer, his wife, their four children
and a granddaughter were living at Gladstone
Villa in Gerard Road, Rotherham.
G & WG
Gummer Limited
In 1890, William Gummer passed
the business to his two sons
George and William Guest
Gummer, and the firm was turned
into a private limited company
owned by the family. They called it
G & WG Gummer Limited.
By this time, the firm employed 130 people
and by 1909 over 300 people worked at the
factory. At this point the company had a
London agent and was exporting its products
across the World, including to India, South
America and South Africa.
The firm’s main trade was in water fittings.
Gummers supplied fine quality bath and
lavatory fittings for hospitals, Turkish Baths,
the Seacroft Hospital in Leeds, accessories for
the Ritz and Strand Hotels in London and the
great ship the RMS Mauretania. This famous
ocean liner was built by Swan, Hunter and
Wigham Richardson at Wallsend, Tyne and
Wear, for the Cunard Line and she launched in
September, 1906. At the time she was the
largest and fastest ship in the World. The
Mauretania won the Blue Riband for the
fastest Transatlantic crossing in 1907 and held
the record for 22 years.
The company also produced a portion of the
fittings for a yacht owned by His Majesty King
Edward VII. Products included Gummer’s
Patent Safety Bath Valves (which were
designed to prevent bathers getting scalded);
shower fittings; fire hose couplings and
automatic sprinklers for factories.
Gummers’ later work included the fittings for
five great battleships in World War Two and
the HMS Ark Royal. They also campaigned for
pit head baths to be installed at all collieries
in the West Yorkshire area and provided most
of the underground fire fighting equipment in
these pits. Valves and pressure steam
equipment were supplied for Britain’s early
atomic power stations and equipment was
also provided for great oil pipelines in Persia.
In 1955, the preference and ordinary shares of
Gummers Ltd of Rotherham were purchased
by a company called Wright, Bindley & Gell
Ltd in Birmingham. Wright, Bindley & Gell
made products including umbrella frames.
Leonard Wilkes Gummer, who was Works’
Manager at Gummers, was appointed a
Director of the combined company and Joint
Managing Director of Gummers Ltd, with the
firm retaining its name.
The Gummers’ works had large offices,
stores, pattern rooms, a metal mixing shop,
casting shops, a machine moulding shop and
finishing shops.
The Rotherham Advertiser describes the
company in an article in 1909: ‘Strongly
tinctured with an energetic and enterprising
spirit, the Gummer family has forced its way
into the forefront of the local and industrial
world, and not only in the British Islands and
on the Continent, but wherever brass taps are
used and steam and water fittings called into
requisition their works are well known and
their manufactures find a place.’
Gummers products were installed on the HMS Ark Royal
Gummers supplied London
hotels including The Ritz
Gummers Catalogue
Number 26 (undated)
7
George Gummer
George Gummer started working
for his father in 1874, and
eventually became Chairman of
the business. He was elected
Mayor of Rotherham three times
(beginning in 1899), was an
Alderman of the Borough for 28
years commencing in 1901, was
five times Greave of the Feoffees
of the Common Lands of
Rotherham, was a West Riding
and District Justice of the Peace
and was also a prominent figure in
the Liberal political cause.
Canvas painting of George Gummer, 1920
(Copyright and courtesy of Rotherham Museums,
Galleries and Heritage Service)
He was an instrumental figure in improving
the town of Rotherham in the late 19th and
early 20th centuries, including a series of
street developments.
George was educated at the Talbot Lane
Wesleyan School (where he took part in
balloon flying and kite-flying as well as the
traditional educational curriculum), the Low
Ash Boarding School on the edge of the
Yorkshire Moors, and Rotherham
Grammar School.
He married Frances Maude James on July
11th, 1878 but, tragically, she died a year later
in September 1879 aged just 23.
His second marriage was to Laura Wilkes on
March 13th, 1882. The couple had eleven
children, 21 grandchildren and one greatgrandchild. Several of George’s children were
involved in the Gummers’ business.
In June 1920, George Gummer was honoured
for his achievements when he was presented
with an oil painting of himself by the artist
Ernest Moore of London. It hung in the
Council Chamber of Rotherham Town Hall
and is now in the collection of Rotherham
Cultural Services.
George Gummer was also a strong supporter
of cycling and football. He was founder and
President of the Midland Counties League and
was also in charge of Rotherham Town
football club when they were elected to the
Football League in 1893.
He retired from public duty in 1929 due to ill
health and died in 1934 aged 78. On August
4th 1934, the Rotherham Advertiser reported:
‘Mr George Gummer’s name will be
associated with all that is good in Rotherham.
It can be truly said of him that he lived for
Rotherham and worked for Rotherham. He
made his life a pattern of high civic duty. No
man rendered greater service to his native
town than this old chieftain rendered to
Rotherham.’ Flags were flown at half mast
from municipal and other public buildings in
the town when his death was announced. He
was buried in the town’s Moorgate Cemetery.
After his death, George’s son George Gummer
junior became Chairman and Managing
Director of Gummers Limited. His brother,
William ‘Billy’ Gummer, became a Director.
George Gummer junior died in 1967.
8
The Akerman
& Jeavons Story
In the 1960s, Akerman & Jeavons
was a Birmingham based company
owned by a man called Mr Weston,
of whom little is known. He also
owned Western Engineering and
another casting company in
Birmingham. When Weston died,
he left a large death duty bill and
Wright, Bindley, Gell &
Messengers, as the company then
was, paid this, thus acquiring
Akerman & Jeavons and joining
the Gummers and Akerman &
Jeavons business strands together.
According to Greg Myatt, who is one of the
longest standing employees of A & J
Gummers today, Wright, Bindley, Gell and
Messengers left the Manager of Akerman &
Jeavons, who was called Bob Mansell, in place
after the takeover. He was married to
Weston’s daughter.
Up until now and the research undertaken for
this history, little was known about the origins
of the Akerman & Jeavons business itself.
However, it was a brass foundry business
based in Birmingham and it was registered as
a limited company on 24th August 1918. Its
Registered Office was in New Bond Street
House, New Bond Street, London.
An entry in Kelly’s Trade Directory for
Birmingham in 1940 lists Akerman & Jeavons
at 22 and 23, Green Street, Deritend and
states that the company manufactures steam
fittings under the name ‘Jeavake.’
One of the founders of the business, Bertram
Scott Jeavons, was born in Bolton in 1889. His
marriage to Alice M Field is registered in the
Kings Norton District of Birmingham in March
1915. The couple had three children - Pauline,
born in 1916, Ursula, born in 1919 and David,
born in 1921.
Bertram Scott Jeavons was educated at the
Quinton Mixed School in Birmingham and
later in life he lived at 15, Fitz Roy Avenue
in Harborne.
Bertram Jeavons’ father was Rechab Vivian
Jeavons. He was born in 1852 in
Wolverhampton and died in 1896 in West
Bromwich. He married Amy Elizabeth Scott,
who was born in Middlesex, in London in 1877.
Front cover of Akerman & Jeavons brochure (circa 1970)
Rechab and Amy had six children - Tallis
Garnet Jeavons, who was born in Swansea in
1881, Frank Charles, who was born in
Wolverhampton in September 1901, Charles
Gordon, who was born in March 1885 in
Bolton, Rechab Vivian, who was born in March
1887 also in Bolton, Bertram Scott, who was
born in Bolton in September 1888, Gladys
Mary, who was born in September 1890 in
Bolton and Philis Maud Jeavons, who was
born in Stockport in 1893. It is not known why
the family moved around so much, but they
eventually settled in Birmingham.
9
Rechab Vivian Jeavons was killed in action in
August 1917 in the First World War. He was
a 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Horse
Artillary (Territorial).
The business dealings of Akerman & Jeavons
between 1918 and the 1960s remain hidden as
no archive records seem to have survived,
however in 1968 the company was still based
in Green Street in Birmingham.
The 1960s association of Akerman & Jeavons
with Wright, Bindley, Gell & Messenger placed
the business in a network of engineering
companies, including Gummers.
The Flushmaster British Rail valve, as featured in
Akerman & Jeavons’ catalogue (circa 1980)
Rothermix Mixing Vales
as featured in an undated
Akerman & Jeavons
catalogue (circa 1980)
10
The Rothermix mixing valve
in use at at Derbyshire
School (as featured in an
undated Akerman & Jeavons
catalogue - circa 1980)
An Akerman & Jeavons catalogue dating from
around this time says: ‘This association
enables them to enjoy the support of a large
group of engineering companies, employing
over a thousand people. The diverse
engineering techniques and expertise
constantly under review by the enlarged group
is always available to associate companies.
Akerman & Jeavons enjoys an unrivalled
reputation for producing high quality
machined components. Their capacity
includes capstan and turret lathes, single and
multi-spindle automatics and automatic and
semi-automatic lathes. We supply original
equipment to the manufacturers of boilers,
pressure vessels, pumps, compressors and
pressure gauges. We also supply to the
Brewery and Food Industries and the Gas
Appliance, Domestic and Industrial, Marine
and Oil Industries. Last but not least we are
suppliers to the Ministry of Defence.’
Wright, Bindley, Gell & Messenger eventually
sold out to a company called Pentos
Engineering. Akerman & Jeavons moved
from its factory in Green Street, which was
small, compact, and had a foundry and its
own canteen, to a new, larger base in
Formans Road.
Greg Myatt was sent to the original Gummers
factory in Rotherham to see what equipment
he thought was needed for a move to
Birmingham. ‘When I went up to see it, I
thought it was a phenomenal factory. It was
literally like going into its own town. It had
bricklayers, brick makers, building painters,
and carpenters. I went into the reception and
they had telephone operators sitting there
operating a huge telephone exchange. I’d
never seen anything like it. However, Pentos
closed Gummers in Rotherham and sold off
the original site.’ He believes that the
Gummers business was brought to
Birmingham in June 1978, at which time
Akerman & Jeavons and Gummers were
operating from the same site.
Products from the late 1970s/early1980s
included the Flushmaster flushing valve for
British Railways’ Inter-City 125 rolling
stock, and the ‘Rothermix’ thermostatic
mixing valves.
A & J Gummers A New Era
The last Akerman & Jeavons
accounts were filed on 31st
December 1984 and the business
was sold in February 1985. This
marked the birth of A & J
Gummers under the ownership of
Ken Shaw and his partner Bert
Chinn and they began to build up
the new business.
In 1992, Bert Chinn was bought out of A & J
Gummers by Ken Shaw and in 1993, the TS500
series of thermostatic mixing valves and the
dual control TS1850 shower valve was
launched. The TS500 was later redesigned as
a smaller ‘mini’ valve and renamed the
MT503 and is one of the company’s best
selling products.
In 1996, A & J Gummers moved to Redfern
Park Road in Tyseley, Birmingham - its
current home.
In 1999, A & J Gummers was bought by
MASCO Corp, a US based business and a
global leader in the supply of kitchen and
bathroom products. ‘When Ken Shaw wanted
to sell this factory he had a lot of offers,’
explained Greg and Paul Monaghan, who has
worked for the company since 1976. ‘He used
to be here at 7.30am every morning and would
walk round the factory every day and knew
everything that went on, but for health
reasons he decided to sell the company.’
Finally, in 2006, A & J Gummers was
incorporated into the Bristan Group as a
satellite company as part of MASCO’s
consolidation of its UK businesses. In addition
to supplying products under the Sirrus brand,
A & J Gummers became a ‘Centre of
Showering Excellence’ for the Bristan Group,
supplying several products to both the Bristan
and Heritage brands. One of its most
successful products is the Bristan mini valve
shower range which was launched in 2008.
A & J Gummers has become a centre of showering
excellence for the Bristan Group
In 1998, the Sirrus by Gummers brand was
launched for the showroom market. According
to Greg Myatt: ‘Sirrus was a brand name for a
particular shower range developed by Keith
Ketley. He also developed the TS1000 (this
was the first valve he developed and a patent
was based on it), then the TS1500 then
the TS2000.’
Keith H Ketley of Akerman
& Jeavons featured on the
cover of a catalogue (circa
1970). He also developed the
original Sirrus shower range
The original TS500 was
later redesigned as the
best selling mini MT503
11
Employees
then and now
In 1900, the employees at G and
WG Gummers Ltd in Rotherham
presented George Gummer with a
watercolour portrait of himself
painted by the artist J. Crosby. It is
now in the collection of Rotherham
Cultural Services. On the back, it
has a written list of the
contributors to the costs of the
painting, and the length of time
they had worked for Gummers.
Two had worked for the company
for 34 years, three for 33 years, five
for 31, 11 for 30, 19 for 25, 20 for 21
years and 40 for over 15 years.
A & J Gummers shop floor in Redfern Road, Birmingham
Some of the employees at A & J Gummers
today have a similar record. To give just a few
examples, Greg Myatt has worked for
Akerman & Jeavons and A & J Gummers
since he was 17 years old. Paul Monaghan
started in 1976. Simon Antrobus has 24 years
service, Dave Andrews 20 years, Terry Wootten
19 years, Andrew Ferlance 15 years and
Maureen Grant eight.
Could there be any similarities between what
it is like to work for A & J Gummers today and
the original Gummers firm?
The consistent theme when talking to staff at
today’s factory is that working at Gummers is
like being part of a family.
12
Pam Harris,
Assembly Logistics
Supervisor, says:
‘This is a fantastic
place to work.
Everyone knows
each other. There’s
no place like it on
earth. It’s one
big family.’
Simon Antrobus,
Production
Manager, says:
‘I’ve worked here for
24 years. When I
first came I started
in the machine shop
as a machine
operator and I have
moved my way
through the business. I’ve worked in quality
and inventory and have been in most of the
departments. My favourite part of my job is
just performing really, making sure we hit our
targets and get everything out for the
customer. This is a great place to work.
There’s a good family atmosphere here and
people don’t really leave.’
Paul Monaghan,
Machine Shop
Manager, says:
‘It’s the people that
work here that
make it great and
the camaraderie.
You get on
with people.’
Greg Myatt,
Development
Engineer, says:
‘I started as a
Trainee
Development
Engineer at
Akerman & Jeavons
and now I’m a
Development
Engineer at A & J Gummers. I’ve enjoyed it.
It’s the people, the camaraderie.’
So what is the secret, what is it perhaps that
links the original Gummers with the
Gummers of today? A clue can perhaps be
found in a feature in the Rotherham Advertiser
in March 1900 entitled The Mayor as
Employer, which reports on the presentation
of a portrait of George Gummer by his
employees at the Drill Hall in Rotherham. It
says: ‘It is undoubtedly true that there are few
large works where the relations of employer
and employed are of such a harmonious
character as prevail at the establishment of
Messrs Gummer. The fact that there are many
employees who number from ten to 25 years’
service speaks for itself. A firm which treats
its employees equitably will always retain good
workmen. The proceedings on Thursday
evening partook more of the nature of a large
family party than anything else.’
In April 1932, the same newspaper published
a report on the Golden Wedding celebration of
Mr and Mrs George Gummer in the Board
Room of the Effingham Brass Works. ‘Mr
Gummer reminded those present that the
past history of the firm proclaimed its future.
It was mainly owing to the ability and good
craftsmanship of the employees that the
firm’s reputation stood so high.’
Judging by the quality of the service provided
to modern day customers from the staff today,
Mr Gummer’s words are still true - almost 80
years on.
Greg Myatt is A & J Gummers’ longest standing employee
and even appeared on the front cover of the Akerman &
Jeavons 1968 catalogue
The team at Redfern Road, Tyseley
13
2011 and Beyond
In July 2011, A & J Gummers
officially became part of Bristan,
the UK’s leading supplier of taps
and showers. All products from
the range have been rebranded to
Bristan as part of a strategic
move by the Bristan Group to
increase its share within the
commercial market.
The legacy of A & J Gummers lives on
however, with some products, like the
Thermostatic Mixing Valves, retaining the
Gummers name. By keeping the Gummers
name in the product, the company intends to
keep its legacy alive.
“We are also able to increase our investment
in marketing and new product development,
helping us to deliver new commercial
products in to the market that truly reflect the
needs of our customers.
“By bringing Gummers together with Bristan,
we can achieve even greater success in the
future. Our comprehensive range is the
perfect marriage of two brands: the distinctive
design and style associated with Bristan and
the Gummers legacy of safety, durability and
rigorous quality standards in commercial
water controls.
“There’s an exciting future ahead and we
aim to make William Gummer proud of what
we achieve.”
So, what’s next for the business? Bristan
Group’s CEO, Jeremy Ling, explains:
“Bristan is a trusted name in the UK for
domestic taps and showers. Bringing our
Gummers commercial business into the
Bristan brand allows us to offer our
customers a complete solution for domestic
and commercial product, all with the backing
of next day delivery, exceptional customer
service and technical support.
14
Historical research completed by Sally Hoban, writer,
journalist and lecturer (www.sallyhoban.com)
Bristan Head Office, Tamworth, Staffordshire
Bristan Head Office
Birch Coppice Business Park, Dordon, Tamworth, B78 1SG
Tel: 0844 701 6273
Email: enquire@bristan.com
www.bristan.com