Willans & Robinson

Willans & Robinson Limited manufacturing engineers of Thames Ditton, Surrey. Later, from 1896, at Victoria Works, Rugby, Warwickshire, England. They were manufacturers of stationary reciprocating steam engines then steam turbines, Diesel motors and generators. They also ran their own foundry.

During World War I it became necessary to sell control of the business to Dick, Kerr & Co. They soon went into the English Electric grouping but Willans & Robinson retained its identity and some independent shareholders until 1935 when it was liquidated.

In the 21st century Willans & Robinson's business is represented by Alstom where it was taken by GEC in 1989 along with English Electric.

The business was founded by Peter Willans (1851-1892) and Mark Robinson (1844-1923) in the 1870s at their Ferry Works site to manufacture high speed reciprocating steam engines for launches. The major advance was that Willan's engines had all working parts enclosed and they were splash-lubricated, this was new. They soon employed some 400 people.

The rise of the Electricity industry created a new demand for their engines. Their engines were designed to operate at a constant speed and were ideal for electricity generation. At their peak their central valve engines provided 68% of Britain's installed capacity for generation of electricity.

In this period of prosperity Willans was able to improve his designs and develop better manufacturing techniques, particularly the use of standardised interchangeable components. His research into the performance of his engines won him the reputation of having a scientific approach.

Willans was the engineer, Robinson found the capital. Their new buildings at Thames Ditton (1888), Queensferry (1899) and Rugby (1896) were all of high quality and distinguished design. Son of a General and by profession a military engineer H Riall Sankey joined the board in 1889 and was appointed chief engineer following Willans' death shortly after being thrown from his dog cart on the way to Brookwood Station. Sankey designed the new works at Rugby and remained with the business and a board-member until 1905 when he left to become a consulting engineer.

The Thames Ditton works were destroyed by fire in 1888 but they were rebuilt to a new and better design. That same year they formed a limited liability company to own the business. The partners and their friends subscribed for the first issue of shares and none were offered to the public. Following Peter Willans death the remaining shareholders decided to issue new shares to the public to raise capital to expand operations and meet demand for the company's engines and in particular for the large engines required to drive cotton and flax mills. The new shares were listed on the London Stock Exchange in July 1894.

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