Group History

A History of Invention & Innovation since 1824

1824	Company is founded by Joseph Rhodes
1899	Limited Company is formed
1921	Company moves to current 8 acre site
1961	Lindustries acquire Joseph Rhodes & Sons Ltd
1979	Hanson Trust PLC Acquire Lindustries
1984	Management Buy-Out from Hanson Trust
1985-2003	Acquisition of 12 synergistic Businesses
2004	Company celebrates its 180th anniversary

In 1824, Joseph Rhodes, as a young man of 20, built his first machine in a small workshop in Wakefield. From making machines to turn out such items as cutlery and oil cans for households in the West Yorkshire town, the Company has progressed to designing high tech computer controlled machine tools for worldwide distribution. And, as Joseph Rhodes was way ahead of his time, the Company still follows that pioneering spirit of invention and innovation.

In 1899 Joseph Rhodes and Sons became a limited Company and registered the Colossus of Rhodes as its trade mark.

In 1921 the Company expanded into its present 8-acre site at Belle Vue, Wakefield. The new factory provided an ideal platform for the Company’s continued growth.

Joseph Rhodes had entered the export market early in its history, opening an office in Paris as early as 1910, but exports increased sharply after the Second World War particularly to Europe and the USA. In the 1950s the export drive was further assisted by Rhodes invention of the world’s first hydraulic shear and press brake, which received patent protection in 1943.

A series of innovative products rapidly followed the introduction of the hydraulic shear, amongst which the stagger feed press, for the production of such tin plate as canister lids and shoe polish tins, and the impact extrusion press used in the forming of battery casings and toothpaste tubes, proved particularly successful.

By the mid 1950s the Company could boast a product range of 1000 types of machines for the sheet metal working industry. The British Machine Tool Engineering Magazine for March 1954 claiming such a range to be “the largest variety made by any firm in the world”.

In 1961 Joseph Rhodes was acquired by Lindustries, who were themselves the subject of a successful take-over bid by Hanson Trust plc in 1979.

In 1984 the Hanson Board agreed to a Management Buy-Out by the then Commercial Director, Ian Ridgway and Production Director, John Blacker. In 1994 John Blacker retired returning the now 170 year Company to a family business headed by Chairman, Ian Ridgway.

Since 1985, the new management team have successfully completed a number of acquisitions of synergistic manufacturing companies. Renowned throughout world, the subsidiaries include the international names of:

HME
HME Minting
Bentley
Dualform
Cowlishaw Walker
Craven Fawcett
Beauford Engineers
Rhodes Interform
Fielding and Platt
Henry Berry
John Shaw
Chester Hydraulics
Berry Refractories

In 2001, it was decided to re-launch the Company as GROUP RHODES, to encompass the much wider offering to market. The four main divisions within the group cover specialities in metalforming, material handing, technical fabrications, clay working machinery and special purpose machinery.

The Company celebrated its 180th anniversary in 2004.

Although today the product range, methods of production and markets serviced have changed enormously since 1824, the Company can still be proud of the fact that it nurtures a dedicated workforce in a traditional yet dynamic manufacturing environment. The development of skills, training and vocational qualifications are as essential part of the Company’s policy for future growth and to meet the ever-changing demands of a challenging and competitive market place.