Author: Chris Wheeler
In my blog from April 1st, I asked the question ‘Whatever happened to Whitmore & Binyon?’, and expressed the hope that after going through Peter’s notes and documents on the subject, I would be in some position to answer that question to a certain degree. Well, for the past month or so I have been working hard and have been cataloguing Peter’s correspondence, notes, and documents.
Much of the correspondence is made up of Peter’s interaction with Phyllis Cockburn, with whom he hoped to produce a definitive publication on Whitmore & Binyon; and Kenneth Masters, who along with Cockburn gave numerous talks on Whitmore & Binyon for the Wickham Market District Local History Society. Both Phyllis Cockburn and Ken Masters along with Peter held significant notes and research on the subject, and these produce some interesting theories on the demise of Whitmore & Binyon.
Interestingly, one of the letters from Alan Bevington-Smith to Ken Masters suggests that there were some people that held George Binyon personally responsible for the demise of the company. This could have been true, especially if it was Binyon that insisted on the liquidation.There is also a belief from other quarters that workers were caught poaching on Binyon’s land, and thus the business was closed down out of this. It is certainly true that George Binyon was the wealthier member of the company and if and when he pulled out the company would be in trouble. However, as Bevington-Smith states, George Binyon paid creditors off out of his own pocket, and as such he ended up living the rest of his life in reduced circumstances.
Ken Masters himself came up with eight possible reasons as to why the firm folded after such a successful period:
- Poor Transport Access – The roads were poor and the machines were heavy.
- Limited Markets – Machinery did not wear out as often, so they did not need replacing by new machinery.
- Changes in Technology – Whitmore & Binyon failed to update their products regularly, thus were left behind in the market.
- Change in Cereal Production – Fierce competition with imported wheat.
- Boer War
- General Trade Recession – W & B short of capital, they may have underpriced products to remain competitive
- Managerial Failure – Exports were down, was William Whitmore as good as his father?
- Local Competition – Others had good transport access and diversified, while W & B only built portable engines.
As Ken Masters suggests, it seems as if the answer is a combination of all of these factors. A firm that was a large success for 90 – 100 years failed to modernise its products and was short of capital. The management failed to identify gaps in the market while also failing to diversify their production methods sufficiently and thus counteract the collapse of the milling market in England, especially the Eastern Counties.
So although there may not be a definitive answer for the collapse of Whitmore & Binyon, at least there is some explanation for the demise. In this I am very much grateful to Tom Hine, for all of his help and additional notes on the Whitmore & Binyon research.