Made in Coventry

One of the many things with (made in) Coventry on.

What about things that are made in Coventry now? (Including things like films, tv shows, books, software, etc.) We all know what was made here in the past. My Dad owned an engineering business and he used to have a lot of Herbert tools. By the 1990s they were all being scrapped as he replaced them with CNC lathes.

Sort of my point really, what IS made in Coventry now. Not such a big list of worldwide products like there has been in the past, esp where machine tools are concerned.

Well I know of a company that makes Tortilla Chips (Mission foods), and one that makes computer games. There are also film-makers based on Far Gosford Street. The company I work for produces software, and a company I used to work for produces software - everyone here will have indirectly bought goods from companies that use it... I know it's not the same as once world-wide known like Alfred Herbert (Now really forgotten, apart from in India, where the Indian subsidiary is still in business) but Coventry's economy has changed and has had to diversify. It's still quite weak, in my opinion, though. I believe this Indian office may have started out as sales office for the Coventry firm to sell machines in India: http://www.alfredherbert.co.in/ I think their attempts to enter the US market failed. Interesting that the Indian office is still going, and presumably makes its own machines now. Matrix recently started up again: http://matrix-machine.com/ I am not sure if they have any links to the original Matrix (Didn't they buy part of Alfted Herbert when it went bust?) A company called Wickman still exists, but I'm not sure if they're related to the original other than in name only (I have feeling it may have been set up by a former employer of Wickman who entered the lucrative market selling spares for machines? The name Exeter springs to mind.) http://www.wickman-group.com/ I am not sure how much they make in Coventry. They appear sell Wickman machines, and also what sounds like Japanese branded machines. I can think of other software firms - there are a few based on Westwood Business Park. Sadly, Coventry lost a lot of its software skills when Marconi closed. How about Whitefurze? I have some of their containers: http://www.whitefurze.net/contact-us.html And of course, a lot of the design and engineering for Jaguars/Landrovers still takes place in Coventry. And musically... Some of the Specials still live locally and are now active again, and there's a brilliant new Coventry band called "Luna Kiss"... I'm far more interested it the cultural/artistic side of things, and this sort of thing tends to boom in cities that are in crisis (As indeed, 2 Tone did.) Coventry is far from being vaguely interesting at the moment.

On Christmas Eve, looking for something 'Christmassy' to watch on TV. I put on 'Nativity!' This was a film made in 2009, in Coventry that I am sure many of you know. Filmed, I believe at Holy Family School (my first school) and Bablake and the Old Cathederal and various other places. I hadn't seen this movie before and couldn't believe my eyes that I was looking at Coventry. You can't imagine how wonderful it was to bring Coventry into my home for Christmas. Just loved it! Gilly. Happy New Year to you all.

The "Nativity" film sounds interesting to all Coventrians. I haven't seen it however. On products made in Coventry, how much do Cash's still produce at Torrington Avenue these days? Got the impression they do the woven pictures there, but locals may have more information. Still looks like a successful business on the web - Cash's It's sad that Coventry has lost the machine tool business as there is still a big world market for precision CNC machines and they are high-value capital equipment items that we should be able to make competitively in the UK, like Germany does.

My dad's engineering firm, by the 2000s, was full of Japanese CNC lathes. I remember him showing me around once, and stuffed away at the back, unused, were old machines, a lot of them Herberts. He said they were brilliant machines, extremely sturdy, but he CNCs were so efficient that they paid for themelves in months. He ran them 24 hours, unmanned. He despaired of British industry (he tried to buy British in the 1970s and 1980s, but ended with a terrible car and a rubbish hi fi that never worked) and the difficulty in finding skilled engineers who could do the technical stuff properly. Not long before he died, he was setting up a subsidiary in India.

Hi. I also like Gilly watched the movie and was so surprised when I saw Coventry and then you realise how lovely Coventry is. It was Christmas night in Coventry for me. But speaking to my sister I was surprised that they have made a follow up, so I'll be looking for that, and the lady doing it lives in Longford, so I'm told. Happy New Year.

Having read many differents threads since I joined, quite a few factory names have cropped up and it got me remembering exactly what was once made in Coventry. So I have tried to list as many as I can remember from when I first started work. Machine tools - Coventry Gauge and Tool, Alfred Herberts, Wickmans, Hey Machine Tools Cars - Standard Triumph, Jaguar, Rootes Group Tanks - Alvis Tractors - Massey Ferguson Aeroplanes - Armstrong Whitworth Engines - Morris Engines Turbines - Noel Penny Fork Lift Trucks - Coventry Climax There was also, Rolls - Royce, Coventry Radiator, Thomas Bushill, Unbrako, Rotherhams, Torrington Bearings, Lawton Tube, Dunlop, GEC, Self Change Gears, Courtaulds, Renold Chain Cannot believe we have let most of this slip away.

There is some engineering still left and running well in Coventry. Best mate of mine owns CMR engineering in Kingfield Road where they make amongst others Aquapower Water drills for closed-loop water hydraulic drilling equipment, multiple parts for the Airbus A380 and supply to several Formula 1 teams - amongst other things

One of the most iconic things missing from the list is the London Taxi and Carbodies.The restructured company has just restarted production, so there is something left.

A list of some manufacturers in Coventry we had.