Back from the brink: AsquithButler, formed from two of the most famous names in UK machine tool industry established in the 19th century, is undergoing rejuvenation to serve the 21st century market

摘要

William Asquith Ltd and The Butler Machine Tool Co Ltd, formed in 1865 and 1868 respectively, spent over a century as intense rivals in Halifax premises little more than half a mile apart. Direct competition abated in the early 1980s when Asquith turned its attention away from large ram-type horizontal boring machines to smaller, vertical machining centres, The move meant, to some extent, that the products of the two companies were complementary and a merger was predicted. Marbaix purchased both companies in the early 1990s and, in 1993, the inevitable amalgamation occurred and the renamed AsquithButler consolidated its operations on the original site of Butler Machine Tool.