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A Time of Expansion - Part 3 |
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In 1995, the
new Corporate Headquarters were opened at Manvers House,
Bradford on Avon, thus continuing the rubber industry's
links with the town which began in the mid 19th century.
Sales of Avon tyres were going from strength to strength
and in September 1995, after reporting a 70% increase in
replacement sales of car tyres for the year, two new distribution
warehouses were opened in the USA to add to the two which
were already in operation there. Later that year, Avon Tyres
also announced the establishment of its own sales headquarters
and warehouse near Paris, France, following the growing
popularity of Avon tyres by French motorists.
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Avon HQ, Manvers House |
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During this
profitable period, the Avon Group continued to expand and
in May 1996, Avon Polímeros, a purpose-built hose
factory, opened in Portugal to supply hoses for Ford in
Spain and Brazil. It is also strategically well placed to
take advantage of the growing Portuguese automotive market
and the well-established Spanish market.
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In 1996 the Automotive division
established a joint venture company with Gold Seal, an original
equipment supplier of extruded sealing systems to all of
India's major vehicle manufacturers. The new joint venture
company is known as Gold Seal-Avon Polymers PVT Limited
and has new factory space in Daman. This successful partnership
has allowed Avon's high technology range of automotive heater
and coolant hoses to be supplied to vehicle manufacturers
throughout India.
Meanwhile, in June 1996, a decision was taken to sell the
Abbey Mills factory in Bradford on Avon to Girlings Retirement
Rentals. A former cloth mill, it had been bought by Spencer
Moulton in 1913 and became part of Avon in 1956 when Avon
Spencer Moulton was formed. Tyre re-moulding was carried
out on the premises until 1970 and inflatables were first
manufactured there from 1960-1964. The building had been
gradually taken out of commission as business had transferred
to other plants in the area. Today it houses luxury retirement
apartments. |
Abbey Mills, Bradford on
Avon
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Hose production at Rudnik |
As part of Avon
Automotive's continued expansion into Mainland Europe, a new
hose production facility was opened in Rudnik, Czech Republic,
in March 1997. Until then, the company had been in operation
since 1993 as Avon-Rubena a.s., a joint venture with Rubena
a.s., a Czech rubber and silicone manufacturing specialist.
The new facility was welcomed as an opportunity to expand
production capacity and introduce improvements in technology
as well as greatly improve working conditions for its employees.
Following the success of the new plant, a decision was taken
shortly after to purchase the remaining 35% stake in Avon-Rubena.
Today it is a wholly owned subsidiary known as Avon Automotive
Rudnik a.s. and manufactures not only automotive components,
but also business machine parts for the Technical Products
division. |
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