Cadby
Hall Estates & Service (Previously
Works Department)
The
title of Cadby Hall Estates & Services
is a relatively modern title to what, for
many years, was known as the Works
Department. In fact the Department's
pedigree goes back to 1894 when the
company first occupied Cadby Hall and
converted the ramshackle buildings that
had once been Charles Cadby's piano
factory into a modern food factory. The
first adaptation was carried out on what
was known as 'A' block and this became the
first bakery. In the same year a team of
craftsmen, and labourers, were responsible
for the work carried out on the first
teashop in Piccadilly which opened in
1894. Thereafter the Works Department was
associated with all the major work on
subsequent teashops, restaurants, Corner
Houses, hotels, factories, offices, sports
grounds and directors private residences
right up to the 1960s. You could not do
anything in the firm without the Works
Department having been there before. Every
type of trade and profession was
represented; the architects, draughtsmen,
planners, steel erectors, bricklayers,
plasterers, carpenters, plumbers,
engineers, electricians and painters. When
work was complete on new projects then the
Works Department were responsible for
maintaining them to a high standard. For
this, new craftsman were required and
included, marblers, glaziers, French
polishers, cabinet-makers, coppersmiths,
guilders and even steeple-jacks who looked
after the lightning conductors and other
items high up on buildings. When a new tea
factory was required in 1919 the Works
Department were called in and as well as
building the factory and installing the
boiler-house and water tower, they dug out
a canal basin so that the tea, which was
landed at London Docks, could be brought
to Greenford by the most economical form
of transport, river and canal barge.
Within the tea factory grounds they laid
railway lines (which connected to the
Great Western mainline system) and
installed overhead conveyors for moving
product from building to building. No job
was too big, or too small. The Works
Department even built the first hotels,
including the huge Cumberland Hotel which
opened in 1933, swimming pools and
computer rooms. Their craftsmen were at
the top of their profession and one could
only marvel at their talents. They were
prepared for everything, one day somebody
would be laying a dance-floor and the next
someone else would be clearing drains.
Even the factory equipment was maintained,
and sometimes built, by the engineers.
Some 2,000 people were permanently
employed by the Works Department during
the 1950s and probably more prior to that
date. Until 1928 the Works Department came
under the control of Alfred Salmon,
director.
With
such a vast and complex assembly of
properties to maintain the Works
Department were not all located together.
Some were based at Cadby Hall but there
were others up and down the country. At
Cadby Hall plumbers, carpenters, painters
etc. had their separate places of work
which changed from time to time as
circumstances required. At one time for
example, after the Second World War, the
painters were situated in St Mary's
College and were constantly employed in
keeping the place in good order. Food
quickly absorbs the smell of paint and so
all paint used in the factories was
odourless. Much painting was done at night
for obvious reasons. Paint spray-guns were
extensively used and two sprayers could
use 14 gallons of paint in a single night.
The paint trade paid additionally for
special work and Lyons honoured these
arrangements. 'Heat' money was paid when
work had to be done on or near machinery
which was especially hot. 'Dirty' money
was paid for work associated with very
difficult and dirty jobs. 'Boat' money or
'Danger' money was paid for exterior work
when carried out from boats or cradles
slung from the roof.
The
Joinery Department, which also fell under
the umbrella of the Works Department, was
located at Rannoch Road. It was here also
where the sign writing section was
situated. The teashop letters, and swags,
were also hand-made here. During the First
World War about 50 girls took over from
the men in this department. They made all
types of work from doors to counter tops
for the shops.
As
a separate unit within the Works
Department was an office who were
responsible for job costing. In a single
year 11,000 different jobs were undertaken
by the Works Department and it was the
responsibility of the Works Office staff
to keep track of these. Many of the clerks
had to be familiar with the 'foreign'
expressions commonly used in the
construction industry. An order for
'alligator belt fasteners' or a
'half-horse motor' caused no more
amazement to the staff than an order for a
pot of paint or 14-lb hammer. The labour
costs of a particular job were calculated
by adding together the various staff times
sheets. The time sheets were also used to
calculate each man's weekly wage. Next the
cost of materials had to be calculated.
The workmen ordered their materials from
the Stores Department and a copy of the
order was sent to the Works Office where
it was priced and valued. At one time all
new building work required a licence
issued by the Ministry of Works. This set
out the estimated time and cost of the
work. But raw materials prices fluctuated
in price so the Works Office had to be
constantly aware of this and alert
departmental managers who may have to
apply for supplementary licences or adjust
the plan. When all the costs were known
the office could calculate how much a
particular job had cost against budget. It
was very labour intensive with pieces of
paper floating all over the place but
management did have control of almost
every item of expenditure.
In
1965 the Works Department were disbanded
which resulted in a number of separate
units being created. One of these was the
Electrical Contracting Service, a 70-man
team who were based in 44 Brook Green.
Their brief was to provide a service, that
was both efficient and economical when
compared with outside electrical firms, to
all Divisions and Departments in the Lyons
Group. Their manager was A. B. Shirley and
one of their first jobs was to win the
electrical contract to modernise the
Strand Palace Hotel bedrooms. Cubitts, who
were the main contractors for the
refurbishment, sent a letter of
congratulations on the excellence of their
work. The Electrical Contracting Service
was divided into four sections, Design
(under J. Child), Contracting (under J.
Lee), Electricity Board negotiator (R. A.
Donoghue) and lifts (under W. J. Edwards).
Two fifths of their work came from hotels
and the Estates Department.
The
1965 dismemberment of the Works Department
also brought about Cadby Hall Estates
& Services (CHE&S). Because the
Lyons Bakery and Bread Divisions between
them occupied approximately one half of
the factory and office space at Cadby
Hall, it was considered appropriate that
they should be included in the Bakery
Sector (not the Bakery Department), but
with responsibility of looking after the
other 'tenants' of Cadby Hall as well. The
main ones being, Henry Telfer, Catering
Division, Tea Division, Wimpy
International, Town & County Catering,
Catering Sales, Commercial Sector which
included Computer Services and Treasury.
CHE&S operated as a business, renting
accommodation to Lyons department tenants
and charging them for services provided.
They had a turnover of £2 million.
Their services were of three main types:
Works, who were responsible for the
installation and maintenance of
electricity, gas, compressed air, steam,
refrigeration, water and drainage and the
building and installation of plant and
machinery or other maintenance or
alterations. General, who were responsible
for cleaning, factory police, fire
equipment, maintenance, lifts, vermin and
pest control, disposal of waste,
sanitation and the running of petrol and
diesel oil stations for transport. And
Catering, whose managed the staff shop,
all canteens and staff restaurants, messes
and tea points in Cadby Hall. The general
engineering and maintenance work
undertaken by CHE&S ranged from the
replacement of washers on taps or fuses in
lighting circuits to the installation of
large plant such as the Harvest Pie plant
for Lyons Bakery. Every day 167,000 square
feet of office space had to be cleaned and
each week 24,000 meals were served in the
restaurants and nearly 18,000 cups of
tea/coffee issued throughout Cadby Hall to
mainly office staff. Until 1970
contractors were hired to handle waste
products at a cost of around £20,000
per year. In 1970 this problem was solved
by CHE&S when they installed a waste
incinerator in E2 Block. Tom Stout,
Engineering Manager, and I. Seary General
Services Manager, spent some time
considering the problem and their research
showed that an incinerator would be the
most efficient and economical method of
disposing of non-recyclable waste. Major
alterations were required to E2 Block.
Foundations had to be laid and a first
floor ceiling removed to give head-room to
the 30-ton two-storey Brule incinerator.
With a furnace temperature of up to 1200
degrees centigrade the machine was
operated from 6 am until 8 pm on a two
shift system. It reduced 10-tons of waste
to 0.5-ton of ash each day. In addition
about 30-ton of pig food and a further
14-tons of cardboard and paper were
salvaged per week. The ash was collected
by Hammersmith Council for
disposal.
In
1971 the Lyons gas service department
became a separate cost centre and became
Colet Contracting Services. Based in
Hogarth House, Hammersmith Road, and under
the directorship of J. R. Woodroffe, the
new company was responsible for developing
business outside the Group and registered
as Corgi Gas Installers. As well as
providing heating and ventilation they
also provided electrical consulting and
installation. Although Colet were members
of the Electrical Contractors Association
and the National Inspection Council for
Electrical Installation Contracting, they
found business very competitive and most
of their work was undertaken for Lyons
subsidiary businesses primarily Falcon
Inns (a subsidiary country hotel group)
and Lyons Groceries. In 1973 they secured
a contract with the Metropolitan Police
and installed a number of diesel
generators in police centres to ensure
their vital systems were kept running in
times of national emergency.
Although
the individual managers of the different
offices complained constantly about the
charges made by CHE&S it must be said
that they provided excellent services.
They responded well to a crisis (like the
fire in the computer room) and pulled out
all the stops to help in any way they
could. They were after all Lyons people
and were totally dedicated. For many years
the organisation was managed by Bill
Bellamy and when he retired Paddy Connors
took over. Like all the other departments
of Lyons they too were progressively
disbanded as the factories moved to new
locations and old Cadby Hall was
demolished. However, they took over the
management of the new Cadby Hall until
that was sold in the 1980s.
©
Peter Bird 2005
|