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Our history

Founded by Leslie Pickering in 1945, our 1st factory in Kenilworth manufactured hand made aluminium combs.

Newspaper clipping about Leslie Pickering from the 1940s
Selection of metal combs made by L Pickering & Sons
1945 - 1954

Post-war beginnings

  • During the war Leslie Pickering works at The Standard in Coventry, manufacturing aircraft carburettors
  • Post-war, he starts producing hand-made aluminium combs in his garden shed, selling them to chemists in the Coventry and Warwickshire area
  • The business expands so Leslie rents land in Clinton Lane by Kenilworth Castle. Collecting scrap metal from bomb sites, Leslie knocks together a ‘factory’ using a 2000sq ft Nissan hut as the base
  • Through word of mouth, the company starts to diversify, manufacturing filters and other services that other companies don’t do (such as cutting tubes and metal)
  • The company literally expands (by building around the original Nissan hut), stops producing combs and starts making a name for itself in filters
Inside the Pickering factory in the 1950s showing female workers at their workbenches
Newspaper clipping from the 1950s about L Pickering employees raising money for charity
1955 - 1964

‘Britain never had it so good’

  • The company starts to expand into heavy engineering and rolling stock - milling and turning machines
  • Also producing internals for barriers for carparks plus towing brackets and axles for GPO trains
  • The Clinton Lane factory expands yet again – this time using bricks!
  • Leslie starts building his own machines for making filter tubes
  • Demand for filter tubes is now being driven by customer needs for bespoke products
  • Pickering’s workforce has expanded; the company is employing around 65 local people
Inside the L Pickering factory in the 1960s showing the machines a sheet metal
Inside the Pickering factory workers are organising and packing products in the 1960s
1965 - 1974

From swinging 60s to the EU

  • One summer, the factory closes, as usual, for two weeks’ holiday, leaving a note for the milkman, cancelling the milk. Rumours fly that the factory is closing down for good!
  • Pickerings are manufacturing components for RAF 25lb practice bombs designed to fall at the same rate as 1000lb live bomb
  • Also producing hitches for fifth wheels on articulated lorry cabs - connecting the cab to the trailer
Engineer is prototyping products at the Pickering factory in the 1980s
External view of the Pickering factory in the 1980s
1975 - 1984

A new generation

  • Tim and Russell, Leslie’s sons, join Pickering, starting at the bottom and learning on the job
  • Two additional sites are opened in Princes Drive, Kenilworth; one producing parts for Potterton Boilers and the other, 280 Standex, producing exhibition stands, illuminated signs and lightboxes
  • The company introduce new capabilities and expertise including spot welding and perforated products (such as tubes for bird feeders)
  • Leslie retires to Florida, USA; his sons take over and Angela, Tim’s wife, joins the company
Male worker operating machinery inside the Pickering factory in the 1980s
Pickering family photograph from the 1980s
1985 - 1994

Expansion

  • With higher demand for more products, Pickering take on a new site in Farmer Ward Road; later adding a second site. The company leaves Clinton Lane
  • The company invests in high-speed perforating machinery.
  • Russell innovates, adapts and develops machinery to meet customer bespoke development needs
  • They create a new company, ACP (Advanced Carrier Products), making metal inserts for car door and boot seals
  • Russell’s wife, Debbie, joins as Company Secretary and, in 1988, Wyd is born
Pickering family and staff outsider the factory in the1990s
Pickering family photo from the 1990s
1995 - 2004

The end of an era

  • The company leaves Farmers Ward Road and moves to its current location, Millers Road, Warwick. They let the fire brigade run exercises at the empty site in Kenilworth; this leads to rumours of insurance fraud and headlines in the local paper!
  • They open a factory in France, with 12 employees. Due to its success it is sold 4 years later to a supplier
  • Russell designs and builds machines to automate the production processes
  • Leslie Pickering, the original founder of the company, sadly passes away in 2001
Pickering family and staff outsider the factory in the1990s
Pickering family photo from the 1990s
2005 - 2014

A difficult decade

  • It affected us all - a global recession. There are fewer sales which is tough. But by putting the workforce on reduced hours, no Pickering operatives lose their job
  • Tim Pickering sadly passes away in 2009
  • Russell makes the move from Technical Director to Managing Director
  • Despite the hard times, ACP continues to grow so the 280 Standex arm of the business is sold to make space
Aerial view of a worker and machine inside the Pickering Perforated Products factory in 2024
Aerial view of solar panels on top of the Pickering Perforated Products factory in Warwick
2015 - 2024

All change… a new lease of life

  • In 2017, Russell, now sole owner of the company, brings his son, Wyd, on board as Engineering Manager
  • After 46 years at Pickering, Russell becomes Chairman in 2022 and Wyd takes over as Managing Director
  • The company fully commits to drive continuous innovation and investing in technology and the best machines to meet customers’ needs
  • Sustainability becomes key to the company – not just on the environmental side (with solar panels, electric forklift) but also on people, promoting employee wellbeing and sponsoring local community initiatives

We remember when…

We let the fire brigade run exercises at our empty site on Farmers Ward Road in 1996 (we’d moved to our current site, Millers Road, by then). Little did we know that it would lead to rumours of insurance fraud. We thought we were doing a good deed, supporting the local fire brigade. Instead, we found ourselves making headlines in the local paper!

We remember when…

The company started to expand in the early 1950s… literally. Our founder, Leslie Pickering physically built around the original 2000sq ft Nissan hut he’d acquired as his first factory. This is when we stopped producing combs and started making a name for ourself in filters.

We remember when…

The factory closed for two weeks one summer in the 1960s. We left a note for the milkman, cancelling the milk… as you do. When we got back off our holidays, we were amazed to learn that the neighbourhood grapevine had gone into overdrive and rumours were flying about that the factory was closing down for good! Who’d have thought cancelling the milk could be so dangerous!

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