Page 19 - The Long Crendon Connection

The Long Crendon Connection Redditch Heritage

had a virtual monopoly on production. Continued investment, streamlining of process and
increased automation of factory systems would see 45 million needles produced per week by the
eve of the Second World War.
In 1730 Henry Millward & Sons was founded in Redditch by Symon Millward. Symon’s son Henry
took over the business in 1770 and by the end of the 18th century the company was the largest
manufacturer in the whole district. By the end of the next century Henry Millward & Sons had the
largest factory in England for the production of needles. The company went on to play an active
part in amalgamating the various needle making operations in the Redditch area. It absorbed
several local companies and became The English Needle & Fishing Tackle Company in 1932. This
company became Needle Industries Ltd in May 1946 and in 1961, following further mergers, it
became Needle Industries Group Ltd. In 1973 the Scottish textile company Coats Paton took over
the organisation. In 1984 Coats Paton acquired another needle making company, Aero Needles
Group Ltd., forming the largest needle company in the world, which at its peak employed 15,000
people.
John James is the trading name of Entaco Limited, a privately owned British company based in
Redditch, long known as the Needle Capital of the World. In 1930 two of the great needle maker
giants Milward and Hall joined forces under a single holding company, namely Amalgamated
Needles and Fish Hooks Limited. In 1932 they formed a separate manufacturing division called
the English Needle and Fishing Tackle Company or Entaco. Studley-based Entaco is one of the
last remaining bastions of this important heritage, and has been making needles for over 300
years, the only remaining UK manufacturer of sewing needles. Now a much smaller business with
a 100-strong workforce, it has seen generations of the same family pass over its threshold to
earn their living.
John James itself was formed in 1840 and the original John James factory appeared listed as a
business for the first time in an 1860 directory for the Redditch area. The factory presence was
even acknowledged by the great English novelist Charles Dickens (1812 to 1870) when he
mentioned a visit to Redditch in his Household Worlds journal.
“We have been to Redditch, that remarkable little . . . town, to see needles made . . . because
our English needles of today are spreading all over the known world, wherever exchange of
commodities is going on. We are allowed to go over the Victoria Works, the manufactory of Mr
John James. That so many (needles) should go forth into the world from one house is wonderful
enough . . . but the making ready for sale exhibits a miracle of dexterity”
John James himself originally focused on industrial needles and in particular sail making needles,
before the company moved into producing their Finest Quality Needles in its distinctive yellow
and black packaging for hand sewing and needlecraft use.
Due to foreign competition from Asia and the dramatic rise in factory made clothing, the town of
Redditch is no longer the world leader it used to be. However, the tradition of needle making in
the area continues with Britain’s only remaining manufacturer still producing over 400 million
needles a year, having carved out a niche for consistently high quality needles in the face of
cheaper imports.

Page: 18