Herbert Morris Ltd

Herbert Morris Ltd was established in 1912. The company followed on from predecessor company Morris and Bastert Ltd, and was located at Empress Works, Loughborough.

The company’s owner Herbert Morris began his working life as a salesman of pulley blocks in London. In 1889, he bought an interest in the lifting gear manufacturer Shardlows of Sheffield. He was joined in the business by the German engineer Frank Bastert. The company, now known as Morris and Bastert, manufactured lifting pulley blocks from its Sheffield Crane Works in Attercliffe, Sheffield. It relocated to Loughborough in 1897 to take advantage of better transport links and a larger manufacturing site.

Herbert Morris Ltd expanded rapidly between 1912 and 1914. By the latter date, the company had sales offices in London, Glasgow, Belfast, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Cardiff, Newcastle upon Tyne and Sheffield. It also had offices in Paris and Toronto. The company was listed in trade directories as manufacturers of electric, pneumatic and hand overhead travelling cranes, pulley blocks, conveyors, overhead runways and lifting miscellanea.

In 1919, Herbert Morris Ltd became the first company in Loughborough to introduce a formal system of day-release apprenticeship in association with Loughborough College.

The company expanded further in the 1920s, starting with the acquisition of the boiler works of H. Coltman and Son Ltd in Loughborough and the construction of new premises known as the North Works alongside the Coltman factory.

During the early 1930s, Herbert Morris Ltd took over several rival businesses, including Craven Brothers Ltd in Manchester, Royce Ltd at Trafford Park, and Vaughan Crane Co of Manchester.

On the death of Herbert Morris in 1931, his son Frank Morris took over as chairman of the company, a position he held until 1969.

The company became a public limited company in 1939. The increase in trade restrictions after the Second World War led to the establishment of subsidiary companies in South Africa, Australia and India.

In 1959, the company acquired all shares in British Mono Rail Ltd of Yorkshire and over the next decade built Goliath cranes for British Railway Freight. During the 1970s, manufacturing included the assembly of overhead cranes for Cammell Laird’s shipyards.

The company board sold its holdings in Herbert Morris Ltd to Babcock and Wilcox in 1976, with Davy International acquiring the company in 1977.