King George V visits Cricklewood

In the middle of WWI large numbers of servicemen were returning home with permanent injuries. In Manchester Henry Lesser Rothbard an India Rubber manufacturer, was disturbed because so many men could not get work. He wrote to hundreds of employers across the country and then sent a pamphlet to Parliament in 1915. He suggested a scheme in which every company with more than 10 employees, should ensure that no less than 5% of the workforce were disabled ex-servicemen. He wanted royal patronage for the idea which would be called The King’s National Roll Scheme (KNRS). Every business who took part would be able to use the King’s Seal on their office stationary. Although some interest was shown the scheme was not implemented. In 1917 a Rothbard Parliamentary Committee was set up to assess the feasibility of the scheme. By Xmas 1918 over 500,000 men had been discharged with permanent disabilities. In May 1919 about 38,000 had registered at employment exchanges and the scheme looked more appealing. A new Minister of Labour TJ McNamara, pressed for the introduction of the KNRS and it was launched on 15 September 1919 – four years after Rothbard had suggested it. It was a voluntary scheme, and with royal support and lots of publicity it was very successful.

It included an Industrial Training Scheme under which the Ministry of Labour commandeered industrial buildings, munition factories and other sites – there were a total of 52 factories and 252 smaller training centres. One of the larger factories which opened in 1920, was at Nos. 255, 257 and 259 Cricklewood Broadway, near the corner with Mora Road.

On 7 June 1920 King George V and Queen Mary visited the Cricklewood factory. There were 370 disabled ex-service men in training. A staff of 43 instructors delivered classes in plumbing, painting and decorating, carpentry and bricklaying etc. The photo shows the King trying his hand at bricklaying.

British Caudron factory from Mark Amies ‘Flying Up the Edgware Road’ (Brent Archives)

The building had previously been the British Caudron aeroplane factory. The Ministry of Labour Training Centre was here from 1920 until 1927 when Rolls Razor took over. They diversified under John Bloom and made washing machines in Cricklewood. Bloom controversially created the ‘Washing Machine Wars’ of 1962–1964 when he drastically reduced prices by direct sales that cut out the retailers who complained about unfair practises. His machines were about half the price of those from the shops. But in July 1964 his company suddenly went into voluntary liquidation which raised questions in Parliament, and the factory was closed.

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