Plant Oxford
Encyclopedia
Plant Oxford located in Cowley, Oxford
, is the central assembly facility for the MINI range of cars. The plant forms the Mini production triangle along with Plant Hams Hall where engines are manufactured and Plant Swindon where body pressings and sub-assemblies are built.
bought the former Oxford Military College
in Cowley. Moving his company into the new site, from 1914 onwards Morris pioneered Henry Ford
-style mass production
in the UK, by building what became affectionately known as "the old tin shed." To facilitate more efficient production, the Great Western Railway
opened Morris Cowley railway station
to serve the thousands of workers commuting to the factory. In 1933, they built a railway goods yard beside the Wycombe Railway
to bring supplies into the factory, and take completed vehicles away. This railway yard still exists today and serves the current vehicle-manufacturing plant, though the railway to High Wycombe
has long been lifted.
As Cowley expanded into a huge industrial centre, it attracted workers during the Great Depression
looking for work. This resulted in the need for new housing, including from the 1920s Florence Park, built mainly by private landlord
s. Like many contemporary industrialists of the time, Morris wanted to provide for the whole life of its workers, and so developed the Morris Motors Athletic & Social Club on Crescent Road, which still exists today.
about the factories ability to change to aircraft industry production, additional capacity was built into the factory through the shadow factory plan from 1937. During World War II
the factory produced the de Havilland Tiger Moth
training aeroplane. Also developed on site was the No 1 Metal and Produce Recovery Depot run by the Civilian Repair Organisation, to handle crashed or damaged aircraft, and even the processing of wreckage from enemy Luftwaffe
aircraft. Artist Paul Nash
was inspired to paint Totes Meer based on sketches he made of the recovery depot.
By the early 1970s, over 20,000 people worked in Cowley at the vast British Leyland and Pressed Steel Fisher plants. After re-organisation, PSF became part of the reorganised Austin Rover, while parts Unipart
was floated of in a management buyout
, but still has its global headquarters next to the Morris plant. Like the rest of the company at this point, industrial action
was high as successive management teams tried unsuccessfully to drive through reform of the British Motor manufacturing industry. The local workers became well known for not accepting wage cuts, union-busting
, with national trade union
militants including local Alan Thornett
.
The Morris marque was abandoned in 1984, when production of the Longbridge-built
Morris Ital
finished; it had been transferred there from Cowley in September 1982, two years after its launch. The transfer of the Ital from Cowley was to make way for the Austin Maestro
and Montego
, which were launched in March 1983 and April 1984 respectively, continued in production until December 1994, though production was gradually cut back after 1989 following the launch of the Longbridge-built Rover 200 and 400
series models.
In 1992, British Leyland sold the entire site to property group Arlington Securities, itself later sold to the Australia
n property company Macquarie Goodman, now the Goodman Group
.
Owner of Rover Group
British Aerospace
agreed a partnership with Honda
, with Honda taking a 20% stake in the company, in return for joint-development of the new Rover 600
and 800
, both produced at Cowley. The 800 Series had been launched in mid 1986 and facelifted at the start of 1992; a year before the launch of the 600 Series.
Despite 1989 seeing a then record of more than 2,300,000 new cars being sold in the United Kingdom, falling demand for the 800 Series resulted in 1,800 job cuts at Cowley being announced in October of that year.
On 31 January 1994, BAe announced sale of its 80% majority share of Rover Group to BMW
. On 21 February, Honda announced it was selling its 20% share of Rover Group, resulting in problems in Rover's supply chain which was highly reliant on Honda. BMW invested heavily in Rover, and particularly the Cowley plant, which became the production centre for the new Rover 75
in late 1998.
.
BMW agreed to redevelop the entire Cowley plant site with the Goodman Group, demolishing much of the factory, to create a new factory called Plant Oxford. The residual parts of the former Morris Motors site were placed into a redevelopment project called the Oxford Business Park
, which now houses offices of numerous companies including: European headquarters of Harley-Davidson
Motorcycle
s; the global headquarters of international aid charity Oxfam
; Wiley-Blackwell; Royal Mail
; HM Revenue and Customs; and a large David Lloyd
fitness centre.
850 jobs cuts at the site were announced on 16 February 2009, resulting in union bosses being pelted with food by angry agency staff who felt that the union had failed to do enough to try and save their jobs.
Plant Oxford now produces the new MINI
, built by BMW
since May 2001. It remains the largest industrial employer in Oxfordshire, employing more than 4,300 people.
stars. Len Johnson's son Joe Johnson was an international motocross
star in the 1960s, until he settled down to take over the family café. The café remained in the family to the end under Len's grandson Bob Johnson. The cafe suffered an armed robbery on 16 January 2008, and closed in 2009. The building is now occupied by Oxford Spin & Fitness centre.
Cowley, Oxford
Cowley in Oxford, England, is a residential and industrial area that forms a small conurbation within greater Oxford. Cowley's neighbours are central Oxford to the northwest, Rose Hill and Blackbird Leys to the south, New Headington to the north and the villages of Horspath and Garsington across...
, is the central assembly facility for the MINI range of cars. The plant forms the Mini production triangle along with Plant Hams Hall where engines are manufactured and Plant Swindon where body pressings and sub-assemblies are built.
History
In 1912, William MorrisWilliam Morris, 1st Viscount Nuffield
William Richard Morris, 1st Viscount Nuffield GBE, CH , known as Sir William Morris, Bt, between 1929 and 1934 and as The Lord Nuffield between 1934 and 1938, was a British motor manufacturer and philanthropist...
bought the former Oxford Military College
Oxford Military College
Oxford Military College was an all-male private boarding school and military academy in Cowley, Oxford, England, from 1876–1896. The military college opened on 7 September 1876. Prince George, Duke of Cambridge was the patron of the Oxford Military College....
in Cowley. Moving his company into the new site, from 1914 onwards Morris pioneered Henry Ford
Henry Ford
Henry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry...
-style mass production
Mass production
Mass production is the production of large amounts of standardized products, including and especially on assembly lines...
in the UK, by building what became affectionately known as "the old tin shed." To facilitate more efficient production, the Great Western Railway
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
opened Morris Cowley railway station
Morris Cowley railway station
Morris Cowley was an intermediate station on the Wycombe Railway which served the small town of Cowley, just outside Oxford, from 1908 to 1915, and then from 1928 to 1963. The station originated opened as part of an attempt by the Great Western Railway to encourage more passengers onto the line at...
to serve the thousands of workers commuting to the factory. In 1933, they built a railway goods yard beside the Wycombe Railway
Wycombe Railway
The Wycombe Railway was a British railway between and that connected with the Great Western Railway at both ends; there was one branch, to .-History:The Wycombe Railway Company was incorporated by an act of Parliament passed in 1846...
to bring supplies into the factory, and take completed vehicles away. This railway yard still exists today and serves the current vehicle-manufacturing plant, though the railway to High Wycombe
High Wycombe
High Wycombe , commonly known as Wycombe and formally called Chepping Wycombe or Chipping Wycombe until 1946,is a large town in Buckinghamshire, England. It is west-north-west of Charing Cross in London; this figure is engraved on the Corn Market building in the centre of the town...
has long been lifted.
As Cowley expanded into a huge industrial centre, it attracted workers during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
looking for work. This resulted in the need for new housing, including from the 1920s Florence Park, built mainly by private landlord
Landlord
A landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, or real estate which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called a tenant . When a juristic person is in this position, the term landlord is used. Other terms include lessor and owner...
s. Like many contemporary industrialists of the time, Morris wanted to provide for the whole life of its workers, and so developed the Morris Motors Athletic & Social Club on Crescent Road, which still exists today.
World War II
Approached in 1935 by the Air MinistryAir Ministry
The Air Ministry was a department of the British Government with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964...
about the factories ability to change to aircraft industry production, additional capacity was built into the factory through the shadow factory plan from 1937. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
the factory produced the de Havilland Tiger Moth
De Havilland Tiger Moth
The de Havilland DH 82 Tiger Moth is a 1930s biplane designed by Geoffrey de Havilland and was operated by the Royal Air Force and others as a primary trainer. The Tiger Moth remained in service with the RAF until replaced by the de Havilland Chipmunk in 1952, when many of the surplus aircraft...
training aeroplane. Also developed on site was the No 1 Metal and Produce Recovery Depot run by the Civilian Repair Organisation, to handle crashed or damaged aircraft, and even the processing of wreckage from enemy Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
aircraft. Artist Paul Nash
Paul Nash (artist)
Paul Nash was a British landscape painter, surrealist and war artist, as well as a book-illustrator, writer and designer of applied art. He was the older brother of the artist John Nash.-Early life:...
was inspired to paint Totes Meer based on sketches he made of the recovery depot.
Post war
Despite successive company mergers and name changes, "Morris's" is still often used as the name of the car factory to this day:- 1952, Morris Motors became part of the British Motor CorporationBritish Motor CorporationThe British Motor Corporation, or commonly known as BMC was a vehicle manufacturer from United Kingdom, formed by the merger of the Austin Motor Company and the Nuffield Organisation in 1952...
(BMC) - 1968 BMC became British Leyland
- 1980s the group was known as Austin Rover
- 1990s it was Rover GroupRover GroupThe Rover Group plc was the name given in 1986 to the British state-owned vehicle manufacturer previously known as British Leyland or BL. Owned by British Aerospace from 1988 to 1994, when it was sold to BMW, the Group was broken up in 2000 with the Rover and MG marques being acquired by the MG...
By the early 1970s, over 20,000 people worked in Cowley at the vast British Leyland and Pressed Steel Fisher plants. After re-organisation, PSF became part of the reorganised Austin Rover, while parts Unipart
Unipart
Unipart Group is a multinational logisitics, supply chain, and consultancy company headquartered in Cowley, United Kingdom. It has operations in Europe, North America, Australia and Japan and works across a variety of sectors that include automotive, rail, marine and leisure...
was floated of in a management buyout
Management buyout
A management buyout is a form of acquisition where a company's existing managers acquire a large part or all of the company.- Overview :Management buyouts are similar in all major legal aspects to any other acquisition of a company...
, but still has its global headquarters next to the Morris plant. Like the rest of the company at this point, industrial action
Industrial action
Industrial action or job action refers collectively to any measure taken by trade unions or other organised labour meant to reduce productivity in a workplace. Quite often it is used and interpreted as a euphemism for strike, but the scope is much wider...
was high as successive management teams tried unsuccessfully to drive through reform of the British Motor manufacturing industry. The local workers became well known for not accepting wage cuts, union-busting
Union busting
Union busting is a wide range of activities undertaken by employers, their proxies, and governments, which attempt to prevent the formation or expansion of trade unions...
, with national trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
militants including local Alan Thornett
Alan Thornett
Alan Thornett is a British Trotskyist leader, and one of the officers of the left-wing Respect party.Alan Thornett began his career as a car worker in Cowley, Oxford in 1959. He joined the Communist Party of Great Britain there in 1960 before being recruited with other shop stewards to Gerry...
.
The Morris marque was abandoned in 1984, when production of the Longbridge-built
Longbridge plant
The Longbridge plant is an industrial complex situated in the Longbridge area of Birmingham, United Kingdom. It is currently owned by SAIC Group and is a manufacturing and research and development facility for its MG Motor subsidiary....
Morris Ital
Morris Ital
The Morris Ital was a medium-sized saloon car built by British Leyland from 1980 until 1984.-Design and launch:The Ital was first launched on 1 July 1980. It took its name from Giorgetto Giugiaro's ItalDesign studio, who had been employed by BL to manage the re-engineering of Morris Marina, a car...
finished; it had been transferred there from Cowley in September 1982, two years after its launch. The transfer of the Ital from Cowley was to make way for the Austin Maestro
Austin Maestro
The Austin Maestro is a compact-sized 5-door hatchback car that was produced from 1983 to 1994, initially by the Austin Rover subsidiary of British Leyland , and from 1988 onwards by its successor, Rover Group. The car was produced at the former Morris plant in Cowley, Oxford. It was initially...
and Montego
Austin Montego
The Austin Montego is a British mid-size saloon car that was produced by the Austin Rover subsidiary of British Leyland , and its successors, from 1984 until 1994. The Montego was the replacement for the Morris Ital, to give British Leyland a modern competitor for the Ford Sierra and Vauxhall...
, which were launched in March 1983 and April 1984 respectively, continued in production until December 1994, though production was gradually cut back after 1989 following the launch of the Longbridge-built Rover 200 and 400
Rover 400
The second generation 400 Series, codenamed Theta or HH-R, was launched in the summer of 1995 as a hatchback and later a saloon. This time it was based on the Honda Domani, which had been released in Japan in 1992, and was sold as part of the European Honda Civic range in five-door hatchback form...
series models.
In 1992, British Leyland sold the entire site to property group Arlington Securities, itself later sold to the Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n property company Macquarie Goodman, now the Goodman Group
Goodman Group
Goodman Group is an Australian integrated industrial property development and management company.The organisation was founded in 1989 as a private property trust focused on industrial properties, listing on the Australian Stock Exchange in 1995 as Goodman Hardie Industrial Property Trust...
.
Owner of Rover Group
Rover Group
The Rover Group plc was the name given in 1986 to the British state-owned vehicle manufacturer previously known as British Leyland or BL. Owned by British Aerospace from 1988 to 1994, when it was sold to BMW, the Group was broken up in 2000 with the Rover and MG marques being acquired by the MG...
British Aerospace
British Aerospace
British Aerospace plc was a UK aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was in the Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire...
agreed a partnership with Honda
Honda
is a Japanese public multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles.Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than...
, with Honda taking a 20% stake in the company, in return for joint-development of the new Rover 600
Rover 600
The Rover 600 Series is a compact executive car produced by the British car maker Rover from 1993 to 1999.The Rover 600 exterior was designed by Rover, a re-skin of the Tochigi-developed Honda Accord, also built in the UK by Honda in Swindon...
and 800
Rover 800
The Rover 800 series is an executive car introduced by the Austin Rover Group in 1986 and also marketed as the Sterling in the United States. Co-developed with Honda, it was a close relative to the Honda Legend and the successor to the Rover SD1....
, both produced at Cowley. The 800 Series had been launched in mid 1986 and facelifted at the start of 1992; a year before the launch of the 600 Series.
Despite 1989 seeing a then record of more than 2,300,000 new cars being sold in the United Kingdom, falling demand for the 800 Series resulted in 1,800 job cuts at Cowley being announced in October of that year.
On 31 January 1994, BAe announced sale of its 80% majority share of Rover Group to BMW
BMW
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. It also owns and produces the Mini marque, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands...
. On 21 February, Honda announced it was selling its 20% share of Rover Group, resulting in problems in Rover's supply chain which was highly reliant on Honda. BMW invested heavily in Rover, and particularly the Cowley plant, which became the production centre for the new Rover 75
Rover 75
The Rover 75 is an executive car produced initially by the Rover Group at Cowley, Oxfordshire, UK, and later by MG Rover at their Longbridge site in Birmingham, UK...
in late 1998.
Plant Oxford today
In 2000, BMW broke up the Rover Group, selling MG Rover and its products to the Phoenix consortium for the nominal sum of £10, which included the Longbridge plantLongbridge plant
The Longbridge plant is an industrial complex situated in the Longbridge area of Birmingham, United Kingdom. It is currently owned by SAIC Group and is a manufacturing and research and development facility for its MG Motor subsidiary....
.
BMW agreed to redevelop the entire Cowley plant site with the Goodman Group, demolishing much of the factory, to create a new factory called Plant Oxford. The residual parts of the former Morris Motors site were placed into a redevelopment project called the Oxford Business Park
Oxford Business Park
The Oxford Business Park is a business park of at Cowley on the eastern edge of Oxford, England. The park is immediately adjacent to the Oxford Ring Road....
, which now houses offices of numerous companies including: European headquarters of Harley-Davidson
Harley-Davidson
Harley-Davidson , often abbreviated H-D or Harley, is an American motorcycle manufacturer. Founded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, during the first decade of the 20th century, it was one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depression...
Motorcycle
Motorcycle
A motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...
s; the global headquarters of international aid charity Oxfam
Oxfam
Oxfam is an international confederation of 15 organizations working in 98 countries worldwide to find lasting solutions to poverty and related injustice around the world. In all Oxfam’s actions, the ultimate goal is to enable people to exercise their rights and manage their own lives...
; Wiley-Blackwell; Royal Mail
Royal Mail
Royal Mail is the government-owned postal service in the United Kingdom. Royal Mail Holdings plc owns Royal Mail Group Limited, which in turn operates the brands Royal Mail and Parcelforce Worldwide...
; HM Revenue and Customs; and a large David Lloyd
David Lloyd
David Lloyd may refer to:*David Lloyd , chief justice of colonial Pennsylvania*David Lloyd Welsh cleric and translator*David Lloyd , British tenor...
fitness centre.
850 jobs cuts at the site were announced on 16 February 2009, resulting in union bosses being pelted with food by angry agency staff who felt that the union had failed to do enough to try and save their jobs.
Plant Oxford now produces the new MINI
Mini
The Mini is a small car that was made by the British Motor Corporation and its successors from 1959 until 2000. The original is considered a British icon of the 1960s, and its space-saving front-wheel-drive layout influenced a generation of car-makers...
, built by BMW
BMW
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. It also owns and produces the Mini marque, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands...
since May 2001. It remains the largest industrial employer in Oxfordshire, employing more than 4,300 people.
Johnson's Cafe
Until 2009 on Watlington Road, opposite the factory, stood Johnson's Café. Founded decades before by Len Johnson, until its final day its interior was decorated with bold murals of early speedwayMotorcycle speedway
Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. Speedway motorcycles use only one gear and have no brakes and racing takes place on a flat oval track usually...
stars. Len Johnson's son Joe Johnson was an international motocross
Motocross
Motocross is a form of motorcycle sport or all-terrain vehicle racing held on enclosed off road circuits. It evolved from trials, and was called scrambles, and later motocross, combining the French moto with cross-country...
star in the 1960s, until he settled down to take over the family café. The café remained in the family to the end under Len's grandson Bob Johnson. The cafe suffered an armed robbery on 16 January 2008, and closed in 2009. The building is now occupied by Oxford Spin & Fitness centre.