Thomas Ryder and Son
Thomas Ryder and Son of Turner Bridge Iron Works, Bolton.
1865 The company was founded by George Ryder or Thomas Ryder (possibly a brother to William Ryder).
1870 Reference to Ryders Patent Forging Machine [1]
1964 Major interest in the company was acquired by Whitecroft Industrial Holdings[2]
1968 Vertical chucking automatic machine [3]
1970s concentrated on machine tools for automotive manufacturing
1972 Received support for a project on a friction welder from government programme for the machine tool industry [4]
1979 After the engineering strike of 1979, Ryder's then owner, the Whitecroft Group showed concerns with the risks of being in the capital goods industry.
1980 May: Whitecorft announced it would close the company if it could not be sold within a year. Ryder had a backlog of business and was not allowed to take on any new orders. The workforce was reduced and 350 people left.
1980 After period of continuing losses Whitecroft decided to reduce the size of the business and sell it[5]
1981 March: Purchased by Gulf and Western.
1981 The business and certain assets were acquired by Sticksound, a subsidiary of Gulf and Western Industries[6]