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25 Years of Dramatic Change - Part 2 |
| In the same
year, Oswald Swanborough retired as Managing Director,
but remained on the Board. He was succeeded by his son,
John, who had joined Avon in 1952.
Also in 1966, a further move in the distributive side
was made when Tyrebatt, a West of England tyre distributive
chain, was purchased and a year later the tyre and accessory
distributive interests of Kerrys were bought. Avon also
began an involvement in the manufacture of rubber for
hovercraft skirting.
Technically Avon faced a development which was to have
a major and far reaching effect on its future - and
indeed that of the local tyre industry. It was in the
early 1960s that advances in tyre technology led to
the introduction of radial tyres. These gave a far greater
mileage than their crossply counterparts which at first
they complemented and eventually rendered obsolete.
Avon was among the pioneers of radial tyre construction
and it was generally concluded that with the major differences
in production techniques radials would have to be produced
in separate manufacturing units. As Government restrictions
ruled out expansion of the Melksham factory, Avon's
new radial plant was sited in one of the designated
industrial development areas at Washington, County Durham.
Construction began in 1968, but economic factors and
an analysis of the industry's future prospects, resulted
in a change of plan and the decision to concentrate
all tyre production at Melksham. With this in mind,
the new Washington factory was sold to Dunlop in 1969.
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| In
1968, the company newsletter reported that 320 cups
a week were going missing from the Melksham canteen,
bringing a strong warning from the Canteen Manager that
if it carried on, meal prices would go up. Work was
also beginning on the building of the new purpose-built
laboratory block.
Later that year, Avon acquired a factory at Redditch
for the manufacture of refrigerator door seals, to ease
the pressure on space at Capon Heaton in Birmingham.
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John Swanborough unveils the new
logo at the Actavation conference
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1968 also signaled a major
event in the Avon history. A marketing conference was
held, christened "Actavation", and attended
by over 350 of the company's senior managers and sales
executives from the UK, Europe and Africa. They were addressed
by John Swanborough, Avon's Managing Director at the time.
He announced a "New Avon" in which an open culture
would be adopted, allowing employees to "apply
their intelligence, be creative, and to take responsibilities".
The new Avon logo was also unveiled, replacing the traditional
Stonehenge image which, although a symbol of strength
and endurance, also carried connotations of immobility.
An objective was also announced that the company was to
double its turnover in 5 years to over £60 million.
Five years later the turnover for the company was £64
million. |
At Bridgend, footwear
presses were removed to make way for new tyre remoulding
presses
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Tyre
remoulding in Bradford on Avon was beginning to outgrow
production capacity, so in 1968 manufacturing was transferred
to the footwear factory in Bridgend which was now struggling.
A 70,000 square foot extension was built and a new market
was being established for "Camel Back" - a
name given to extruded rubber tread which was wrapped
around tyre casings before being remoulded. From zero
sales in 1969, by 1974 Avon supplied 40% of demand in
the UK and 70% in Ireland. |
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