Skip to content

VTT-WB LTD : IAIN EXETER

SUCCESSIVE GOVERNMENTS FORGOT WHERE THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION STARTED. IT WAS FOOLISH TO GIVE UP OUR MACHINE TOOL INDUSTRY

 In 1961 I was in my first term at Loughborough Colleges studying to be a PE and Modern Languages teacher. A serious rugby injury required surgery and was going to put me out of action for a year or more.

 

Rather than waste a year I went to work in my father’s fledgling 3 man machine tool rebuild company. This partnership was immediately successful and he persuaded me to stay because, in his words, “Advanced countries like the UK, the US, Europe will always need machine tools because they make everything you can see or touch”

 

I had a very successful, very rewarding early career. I turned our small family business into a very serious high value UK machine tool engineering group and when I left in 1976 to set up my own company the success continued. That put me into the position in1989 to buy 50% of Wickman Bennett the UK No 1 and one of the best known machine tool companies world wide.

 

My life was very comfortable but I had seen Wickman and other UK machine tool companies sitting on their laurels, on their strong history. When the chance came to buy and run Wickman Bennett I knew I could turn the company back into profit. I was undecided for a few days and then I read this Harvard press release – only one decision possible – go for it

 

Harvard are saying exactly what my father had said all those years ago. Back in the 1960’s I had taken a part time Post Graduate Diploma course at Woolwich Polytechnic that was based on the Harvard MBA. I had a lot of respect for and faith in Harvard and MIT.

This report totally convinced me – do it!. So I went forward and bought Wickman Bennett

 

I saw this quotation from Harvard once again – in the MTTA 1996 report. This was the year we built our first Millennium machine and won an MTTA design award

MTTA was the Machine Tool Technologies Association.

At the same address in London it is now the MTA – the Manufacturing Technologies Association – no British machine tool builders left!

 

Despite not succeeding I don’t regret I tried. Few of the decision makers in government over all these years understand that de-industrialising has created a void. Those who like working with their hands now have few opportunities to work in a precision environment that boosts their self esteem. Machine tool industry supported tens of thousands of precision engineers.    
 
Moving manufacturing to China and India has multiplied several times the greenhouse gas cost of each product made there and shipped here in huge pollution belching freighters 
 
If you are interested to see where my 60 years obsession with machine tools has taken me – read on
The power point is specific to VTT and my Webster &Bennett life and obsession
 
We believe in machine tools and believe they should always be built with long life quality, not as 5 year disposables
Happily there are still engineering and manufacturing companies around the world that believe the same
And so we continue…………..
 

Download History Power Point

Download

Exeter's History with Webster & Bennett PDF

Download

History brochures

Machine tool trading rebuild history brochures
1961- 1989

K.E.N.T. Machinery Group (21mb)
Exeter Machine Tools (London) 1977 (276kb) 
Exeter – Clyde Valley – Central machine tool group (1.5mb)
Exeter – K.E.N.T 1982 (520kb)
Exeter Machine Tools 1982 (1.4mb)
Timex-Muller Machines 1983 (2mb)
Exeter – huge machines 1984 (426kb)
Exeter Machine Tools 1984 (912kb)
Oerlikon-Muller Machines 1984 (476kb)
Exeter machine tools 1985 (1.6mb)
Exeter Machine Tools 1985 (492kb)
CNC Lathes – Exeter Machine Tools – Stock List (1.4mb)
CNC Lathes in Action (276kb)
Machinery and production engineering (588kb)
Wickman Exeter 1986 (708kb)
Wickman Exeter 1986 (2) (976kb)
Wickman Exeter 1987 (764kb)
Wickman Exeter – CNC 1987 (600kb)
Wickman Exeter – High Tech 1987 (520kb)
Wickman Bennett – The Banner 1987 (432kb)

Wickman
1989 -1992

Wickman 52-200 Series (560kb)
Wickman 76-250 CNC Turning Centres (268kb)
Wickman 26-130 KIS (288kb)
Wickman 26-130 SP (590kb)
Wickman Bennett Selection 1990 (453kb)
Wickman Multispindle autos 1990 (1.6mb)
Wickman Multiflex CNC 1990 (548kb)
Wickman Bennett vertical lathes 1990 (994kb)
Wickman in Production 1991 (1.10mb)
Wickman 1992 disaster (2mb)

Webster & Bennett
1993 – 2010

The Future – 3 Vital Ingredients 1993 (658kb)
‘T’ Series Flexidrive 1995 (299kb)
‘TX’ Turret Lathes 1993 (342kb)
1995 (708kb)
India 1998 (354kb)
Millennium 1996(1.33mb)
Millennium Press Feature 1996(340kb)
News Bulletin 1994(594kb)
News Bulletin 1997(762kb)
The Millennium range 1999 (486kb)
French, Italian and German brochures (1.09mb)