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At the outbreak of World War 1, Westley Richards was a profitable public company. Then all hands were turned to the war effort. Government orders for the conversion and rebarrelling of thousands of rifles put great pressure on the firm, and a huge investment in new machinery and staff was necessary. No other factory of similar size in the country held a comparable record for such fine work and high output. In peacetime, however, it became impossible to maintain the large workforce, and by the time of the Second World War the company was forced into voluntary liquidation, although it continued to trade.
In 1946 Captain E.D. Barclay bought the firm from the liquidators and subsidised the gunmaking business with profits made from whale harpoons and toolmaking. Even these efforts did not prove satisfactory and in 1957 he disposed of his shareholding to Walter Clode who is currently Chairman of Westley Richards.
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Walter Clode - Chairman of Westley Richards since 1957
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