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Behind the badge

by Louise Lewis

and ladies seem to be more colour conscious and perhaps more tidy, as all the surfaces and rags must be spotless before enamelling can begin. There are three lady enamellers upstairs and they have been with the company for between 15 and 20 years.

Behind the badge maker is a team of good men and women who work for W.O. LEWIS BADGES in the jewellery quarter in Birmingham who make this company what it is.

Philip Lewis, known as “the badge man” is the managing director of this company which is in its 178th year.

It is a long week. Production begins at 8a.m. and fi nishes at 5p.m. and it is tough and competitive in the manufacturing industry. Going back to the war years, the company was still in Howard Street and the surrounding streets were then occupied by residents. Not so now, as building around has taken over and the jewellery quarter is in recession.

W. O. Lewis has always been a family run fi rm and is now in its 5th generation.

‘Gremlin’, ‘Old Stick’, and ‘Munchkin’, better known as June, who runs the warehouse has been with the company for 38 years and has known Philip since he began work as a teenager at the factory.

“He’s always telling me to hurry up, hurry up”, she says laughing, because as she points out, to see Philip running is a bit of a joke. But, she says, sometimes it has to be done at a particularly busy time at certain periods in the year. She is the one who is always in trouble if something goes wrong, so, she has to make sure everything runs smoothly. There are twelve employees, mostly women, because as June says, “ this is where the girls come into their own. They are asked to put the enamel colours together as samples for the customer

When an order comes in, it is usually taken by operations manager, Alan Connolly. From there, it is priced and details given to June. The die will then be cut and the badge has to be made and stamped out of metal. It will then pass on to the hand press and is clipped or pierced. After this, it will be taken upstairs to the girls to be enamelled, after being cleaned in the dipping shed. Enamellers upstairs then delicately paint in the colours with a quill pen. The badge is then fi red, fi nished and given back to the girls to fi re again. Finally, it comes downstairs for barreling and polishing and is viewed personally by Philip. He approves every badge. The colour of the cording must then be chosen and all badges checked and possibly soldered. They will be pinned and then plated. All race passes for instance, have to be numbered, packed, wrapped individually, boxed and sent to the customer. A fi nal viewing will be done at this stage to make sure everything is perfect. Every procedure is done by hand and each badge could be picked up as many as twenty fi ve times.

All this for one badge you may think, but when you look at this piece of artwork and feel it inside your hand you can see it certainly is something special.

The business still prides itself by taking great care of its staff and June remembers that it has been especially good to members of families who may have needed help. “ They have always had great understanding” she says,

“Many staff have worked through with us as mothers to daughters”, indeed, most of the staff have worked here for 20 years or more.

Many fun times have been enjoyed too; girls’

W.O.LEWIS (Badges) Ltd.

Howard Works • 39 Howard Street • Birmingham B19 3HP

58

Telephone: 0121 236 0789 • Fax 0121 233 3057 • Email: lewisbadges@lewisbadges.fsnet.co.uk

T H E L O N D O N P O L O C L U B

trips to Belgium, Christmas parties in local restaurants or hotels, canal trips, surprise parties, sometimes ending up in the local nightclub. Still, everyone turned up the following a.m. on time, ‘ready for work’

When Jeanie spilt acid on herself many years ago, she was physically picked up and thrown into a sink. The taps were turned on to dilute the acid on her legs!! Saved by a good team which is vital to promote a happy working atmosphere.

From Buckingham Palace, a letter from Queen Mary to the company in April 1924 thanks all the kind people who helped to make the dolls’ house and indeed, many special commissions have been completed over the years.

During past recession years things have been a struggle. June remembers being ‘rented out’ to another local company to save costs and to ensure she still managed to take wages home. She says, “ We have also been on three days on, three days off in the past.”

Manufacturing, we hope will continue in the UK, but as recession hits again and cheap imports fl ood the market, keeping a family business profi table becomes more of a challenge. We have been lucky with a good team and Philip takes enormous pride in carrying on the family tradition.

Mass production can never replicate generations of enterprise and historical techniques. The end product of a Lewis badge speaks for itself. This is the reason why our core of elite clients return to us year on year. Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72
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