Britain: An official handbook > 1959

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BRITAIN: AN OFFICIAL HANDBOOK
To maintain its place in the forefront of world suppliers of textile machinery,
the research and design departments of the industry are continuously engaged in
research into new and improved methods of textile processing, and in the develop¬
ment of machines to speed up production and to improve the quality of an ever
increasing variety of yarns and fabrics.
Contractors’ Plant and Quarrying Machinery
Production of contractors’ plant in the United Kingdom before the war was
mainly concerned with small excavators, concrete mixing machinery and road
surfacing plant, including road rollers. But now many new machines, especially
machinery for earth-moving, are in production. Examples are industrial crawler
tractors, motor graders, scrapers, trenchers, dozer equipment, dumpers, rippers
and rooters.
Whereas output in 1935 was valued at only £2 million, in 1957 it reached nearly
£80 million, of which half was for export. Increased exports have been mainly in
the form of earth-moving machinery, road rollers, and crushing and screening plant.
Office Machinery
The United Kingdom office machinery industry is now second in size only to
that of the United States, and since 1946 has expanded at a remarkable rate. In
1957, the value of deliveries of office machinery (such as accounting and similar
machinery—excluding electronic computers—typewriters, and dictating machines)
was nearly £49 million, of which £19 million worth was exported, including
more than £3 million worth to dollar markets. British typewriters to the value of
£1-4 million were exported to North America. The industry, in association with
the electronics industry, is developing the manufacture of electronic computers on
a considerable scale.
Refrigeration Machinery
The United Kingdom industry makes a wide range of equipment and appliances
extending from refrigerators of varying sizes suitable for domestic and commercial
use, to industrial refrigeration equipment for cold stores, manufacture of chemicals
and other products, ice-making plant and refrigeration plant for ships. Production
of commercial and industrial refrigeration machinery was well established before
the second world war, but the present large production of domestic refrigerators
has been built up since 1946.
The value of the annual deliveries of refrigeration machinery in 1957 totalled
over £34 million compared with £24 million in 1953. Deliveries for export totalled
£13 million, or some 40 per cent of output.
Industrial Valves
Industrial valves controlling the movement of liquids and gases are a vital
component in many industrial processes, particularly in the chemicals, oil and
electric power industries. About 90 per cent of the United Kingdom production,
in 1957 worth about £37 million, is made by 63 firms. Chief centres of production
are the Midlands, Glasgow and the north of England, and some 15,000 persons
are employed in this branch of the engineering industry.
The value of deliveries for export more than doubled between 1949 and i957>
when they were valued at £12 million or about one-third of total deliveries. The
United Kingdom ranks second to the United States in world exports of industrial
valves, and accounts for about one-fifth of the total.