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Pocket
Histories
of
Redditch
-
Nickel
Cadmium
Batteries
Designed
and
Produced
by
Anthony
Green
2015
A
Brief
Introduction
to
Nickel-Cadmium
Industrial
Battery
production
in
Redditch
Pocket
Histories
of
Redditch
-
Nickel
Cadmium
Batteries
Designed
and
Produced
by
Anthony
Green
2015
In
1899,
Waldemar
Jungner,
of
Sweden,
created
the
first
nickel-cadmium
battery,
the
only
direct
competitor
to
the
lead
acid
battery.
Early
Ni-Cd
batteries
were
physically
and
chemically
robust
and,
with
minor
improvements
to
the
first
prototypes,
the
energy
density
rapidly
increased
to
about
half
of
that
of
primary
batteries,
significantly
better
than
lead
acid
batteries.
In
1919
a
young
engineer,
Martin
Dybeck,
started
a
subsidiary,
at
Hunt
End,
Redditch,
of
the
Swedish
Nife
battery
company
under
the
name
Batteries
Ltd
using
the
brand
name
NIFE.
The
company
had
actually
been
registered
in
a
London
office
in
1918
and
it
began
manufacturing
in
1920
by
assembling
batteries
from
components
made
in
Sweden.
In
1926
Lucas
took
a
financial
interest
in
the
company
and
in
1933
Chloride
acquired
a
controlling
interest
and
renamed
the
company
Nife
Batteries
Ltd
Above:
Staff
Christmas
Party
in
1934
Below:
Batteries
Limited
at
Hunt
End
Early
History
and
Batteries
Ltd,
Hunt
End
Pocket
Histories
of
Redditch
-
Nickel
Cadmium
Batteries
Designed
and
Produced
by
Anthony
Green
2015
In
1929
Varta
established
a
new
battery
manufacturing
company,
Britannia
Batteries
Ltd,
in
a
factory
in
Union
Street,
Redditch,
previously
occupied
by
the
BSA
Company
for
the
manufacture
of
motor
cycles.
They
began
making
dry
batteries
(Pertrix).
and
lead
acid
batteries
and,
in
the
mid
1930's
they
also
began
production
of
alkaline
(Edison
tubular
and
a
flat
plate
type)
batteries.
In
1936
Chloride
acquired
all
Varta
interests
in
the
UK,
including
Britannia
Batteries
Ltd.
This
gave
them
the
Union
Street
plant
and
also
the
Britannia
and
Alklum
brands.
For
a
time,
Chloride
continued
with
the
manufacture
in
Redditch
of
lead
acid
and
dry
batteries,
in
addition
to
the
two
alkaline
types.
However,
the
lead-acid
activities
were
gradually
absorbed
by
other
companies
in
the
Chloride
Group
and
they
disposed
of
the
Pertrix
dry
battery
section.
Above:
Aerial
view
of
Britannia
Batteries
in
Union
Street
Below:
Britannia
Batteries
exhibition
stand
1936
Britannia
Batteries
-
Union
Street
Pocket
Histories
of
Redditch
-
Nickel
Cadmium
Batteries
Designed
and
Produced
by
Anthony
Green
2015
In
1947,
Chloride
merged
Nife
and
Britannia
to
form
Alkaline
Batteries
Ltd.,
operating
from
the
Union
Street
site.
The
names
of
Nife
Batteries
and
Britannia
were
retained
for
commercial
use.
Developments
and
new
products
continued
at
the
Redditch
plant.
These
included
new
cap
lamp
batteries,
plastic
cased
cells,
sealed
pocket
plate
products
and
sintered
products.
In
1966
Alkaline
Batteries
Ltd.
began
using
the
Alcad
brand
name
and
was
now
employing
over
1,000
people
with
factories
in
Redditch,
Southampton
(Bardic)
and
Ponthenry
(S.
Wales),
and
with
local
assembly
in
Australia
and
South
Africa.
It
had
sales
offices
and
distributors
in
almost
every
country
in
the
World.
In
the
period
1968/69
Chloride
bought
out
the
Lucas
interest
and
changed
its
name
to
Chloride
Alcad
in
April,
1973.
Above:
Alcad
Exhibition
Stand
in
1960s
Left:
Two
views
of
the
Alcad
factory
in
the
1960s
before
investment
in
the
site
began.
Alcad
-
the
early
days
Pocket
Histories
of
Redditch
-
Nickel
Cadmium
Batteries
Designed
and
Produced
by
Anthony
Green
2015
In
the
mid
1970's
it
was
decided,
that
to
be
successful,
Alcad
ranges
required
an
upgrade,
and
the
decision
was
taken
to
move
containers
to
heat
sealed
polypropylene,
a
strong
plastic,
and
tig
welded
stainless
steel,
which
was
corrosion
proof
and
a
first
in
the
battery
market.
Using
the
new
Redditch
developed
double
needle
perforation
and
a
new
multi-cranked
hardware,
significant
performance
improvements
were
made.
At
the
same
time,
a
massive
building
investment
began
and
the
result
of
this
exercise
can
be
seen
in
the
aerial
photograph.
This
shows
all
the
new
buildings
built
over
this
period.
In
1982,
due
to
financial
difficulties,
Chloride
sold
off
many
of
their
‘non-core’
businesses
and
this
included
selling
Chloride
Alcad
Ltd
to
the
Marathon
Manufacturing
Inc.
Of
Texas,
USA
and
the
name
was
changed
to
Marathon
Alcad
Ltd.
Above:
The
Alcad
site
in
the
1980s
after
development
Below
left:
Cells
in
Final
Assembly
Below
right
:
dust
extraction
system
Alcad
-
A
world
renowned
battery
manufacturer
Pocket
Histories
of
Redditch
-
Nickel
Cadmium
Batteries
Designed
and
Produced
by
Anthony
Green
2015
The
experience
with
Marathon
was
good
and
they
retained
ownership
for
five
years.
However,
due
to
the
financial
difficulties
of
their
parent
company,
they
were
forced
to
sell
a
number
of
their
acquisitions,
including
Alcad
in
1987.
The
company
was
acquired
by
the
French
specialist
battery
company
Saft
who
embarked
on
a
transfer
of
all
their
pocket
plate
manufacture
from
their
site
in
Bordeaux
to
Redditch.
However,
in
1991,
Saft
acquired
the
Swedish
company
NIFE
AB
who
were
in
financial
difficulty
due
to
a
large
manufacturing
investment
and,
in
1993
the
Alcad
factory
in
Redditch
plant
was
closed
and
all
production
moved
to
the
Swedish
factory.
The
Redditch
site
was
now
derelict
and
it
would
be
some
time
before
the
site
could
be
declared
safe
for
other
use.
It
now
has
housing,
a
DIY
store,
a
supermarket
and
a
mosque.
The
Alcad
brand
name
was
retained
by
Saft
and
still
continues
to
be
made
and
sold.
Above:
The
Alcad
Union
Street
site
was
demolished
Below:
All
that
remains
today
is
the
gate
in
Union
Street
Alcad
-
the
final
days
Pocket
Histories
of
Redditch
-
Nickel
Cadmium
Batteries
Designed
and
Produced
by
Anthony
Green
2015
End
of
Presentation
A
Brief
Introduction
to
Nickel-Cadmium
Industrial
Battery
production
in
Redditch