I remember seeing speeds original report on this place and thought it looked a great wander, but forgot about it. Then in the summer Dangas and Wastelandr gave it a look which sparked the interest. It’s not to far from me so planned to go with Jake and Man Gone Wrong. A few tips from dan and Wastelandr and we soon found ourselves in this mass factory. Sadly kids had started getting in and was a group turned upas we were then finishing up. We could hear them chucking stuff about. I am surprised other people have not found this place, it’s a great big derelict industrial site. But the kids obviously had, it was school holidays and kids soon find somewhere to go. It was lovely to wander around a big industrial site with lots to discover that is local. We spent a good five hours inside and then the social club.
The Lucas Cav factory started out in Sudbury in 1944 to move a fair bit of the manufacturing from its main site in London. Like many companies and organisations they all had that fear that the Germans could bomb the factories even though the main bombing of the country had stopped at this period in time as the Germans were on the back foot. The company also had other locations around the country. They started out in Sudbury in a former silk factory, they moved from here to another location before moving to what would be known as the Chilton Works. Reading on some site, they reckon that everyone in Sudbury knew someone who worked at the factory or had worked in the factory. The company specialised in manufacturing diesel injectors, nozzles and filters and other such things. The company was well know for its apprenticeship schemes and training. The industry average for training days is 55 hours a year, Delphi’s were 100 hours a year, nearly double the average. The company faced a round of redundancies in 2015 with the company announcing that the company wanted to cut the company’s workforce by nearly a quarter. Sudbury wanted 91 permanent staff and 85 temporary staff gone out of 700 staff at the factory. The whole reason for restructuring was to move some manufacturing to Romania, probably at a cheaper price as usual. More than 100 employees applied for for voluntary redundancy. Wash ours that the apprenticeship scheme was to be scrapped, this scheme had won awards. The local MP met up with the new plant manager and head of HR, and was reassured that the company was committed to Sudbury. The MP stated that though no guarantees were made as is normal, the company gave very positive signs that they were committed. Things like retention of the apprentice scheme. And that all current apprentices would be offered permanent contracts, strange considering that they were then laying staff off, unless they were different needs for the business. They also promised a management system for the shop floor known as “enterprise operating system”. I guess all these positive signs meant noting as the company announced it would close its Sudbury site with the loss of jobs or relocation. The site when closed had several interested buyers after closure, but they fell through. One was for housing and the other with converting the factory for the production of electric cars. The sale of the 22 acre site was finally completed in 2020 to a company called Future Properties Industrial. As of now nothing has been done with the site.
The main gates and security hut.
The old fire station, the factory was so big with so much combustible stuff it was deemed necessary.
Cycle racks
The sheer scale of the site is impressive as can be seen from the outside.
Down the far end is building which looked like it was used for chemical storage of some sort. The red rubber bung on the floor to prevent spillages from spreading.
When you get in the main factory floor it’s an impressive sight to behold, it’s shame all the machinery had been sold off, but still impressive. What amazed me was how slippy the floor was. This was from all the residue in the ceiling what would drip down. Bet that was awful to work in even with regular cleans.
Looking over the shop floor which has Porta cabin style huts dotted in the floor area.
Inside a porta cabin,
Shelf storage down one end of the factory, they had more at the other end.
All around the factory little and big rooms adorn the sides. These are used for a variety of stuff like welding bay, apprentice room, HR and pay offices and so on.
On the wall in this bit was a team breakdown of workers with photos.
You can see the oil residue clearly on this raised level here.
What was the staff canteen.
CONTINUED..
The Lucas Cav factory started out in Sudbury in 1944 to move a fair bit of the manufacturing from its main site in London. Like many companies and organisations they all had that fear that the Germans could bomb the factories even though the main bombing of the country had stopped at this period in time as the Germans were on the back foot. The company also had other locations around the country. They started out in Sudbury in a former silk factory, they moved from here to another location before moving to what would be known as the Chilton Works. Reading on some site, they reckon that everyone in Sudbury knew someone who worked at the factory or had worked in the factory. The company specialised in manufacturing diesel injectors, nozzles and filters and other such things. The company was well know for its apprenticeship schemes and training. The industry average for training days is 55 hours a year, Delphi’s were 100 hours a year, nearly double the average. The company faced a round of redundancies in 2015 with the company announcing that the company wanted to cut the company’s workforce by nearly a quarter. Sudbury wanted 91 permanent staff and 85 temporary staff gone out of 700 staff at the factory. The whole reason for restructuring was to move some manufacturing to Romania, probably at a cheaper price as usual. More than 100 employees applied for for voluntary redundancy. Wash ours that the apprenticeship scheme was to be scrapped, this scheme had won awards. The local MP met up with the new plant manager and head of HR, and was reassured that the company was committed to Sudbury. The MP stated that though no guarantees were made as is normal, the company gave very positive signs that they were committed. Things like retention of the apprentice scheme. And that all current apprentices would be offered permanent contracts, strange considering that they were then laying staff off, unless they were different needs for the business. They also promised a management system for the shop floor known as “enterprise operating system”. I guess all these positive signs meant noting as the company announced it would close its Sudbury site with the loss of jobs or relocation. The site when closed had several interested buyers after closure, but they fell through. One was for housing and the other with converting the factory for the production of electric cars. The sale of the 22 acre site was finally completed in 2020 to a company called Future Properties Industrial. As of now nothing has been done with the site.
The main gates and security hut.
The old fire station, the factory was so big with so much combustible stuff it was deemed necessary.
Cycle racks
The sheer scale of the site is impressive as can be seen from the outside.
Down the far end is building which looked like it was used for chemical storage of some sort. The red rubber bung on the floor to prevent spillages from spreading.
When you get in the main factory floor it’s an impressive sight to behold, it’s shame all the machinery had been sold off, but still impressive. What amazed me was how slippy the floor was. This was from all the residue in the ceiling what would drip down. Bet that was awful to work in even with regular cleans.
Looking over the shop floor which has Porta cabin style huts dotted in the floor area.
Inside a porta cabin,
Shelf storage down one end of the factory, they had more at the other end.
All around the factory little and big rooms adorn the sides. These are used for a variety of stuff like welding bay, apprentice room, HR and pay offices and so on.
On the wall in this bit was a team breakdown of workers with photos.
You can see the oil residue clearly on this raised level here.
What was the staff canteen.
CONTINUED..
