Metamec
Metamec was a manufacturer of domestic clocks in the latter half of the 20th century. The company started as an offshoot of the furniture manufacturers Jentique, which made boxes for instruments and bombs during the war. The name "Metamec" is derived from "metal-work and mechanics".
The first Metamec model was a mains-powered mantle clock numbered "701". All clocks produced by Metamec were produced to a high standard, and the factory expanded with the purchase of new machines to allow them to create their own movements, rather than import the movements in from other clock companies.
The factory increased in size during the 1960s and 70s, and employed approx. 750 people, producing 350 models of clock, and producing 25,000 clocks per week. Metamec was the largest clock manufacturer in the UK at the time. However, the company declined in the late 1980s due to penetration by the German clock industry and imports from the far east. Metamec went into receivership in December 1984 and was purchased in Jan 1985 by FKI of Halifax, Yorks who continued to use the name until 1993. [1]
As of 2011, the name "Metamec" is still in use, and a clock manufacturer is producing clocks under the Metamec name in Derbyshire. [2]
References
- ^ 'Metamec Summary' Barrie's Virtual Clock Museum
- ^ 'About our Company' Metamec Limited