ABSTRACT
THE Glacier Metal Company is a joint stock company with an authorized share capital of £500,000, and an issued share capital of £389,500. It employs some 1,800 people, of whom 1,300 work in the parent factory in London where this study is being carried out. There is also a factory in Scotland, with some 400 personnel, and a small Service Station in Manchester and in Glasgow. The company was founded in 1899 by two Americans who were interested in the manufacture of anti-friction metals. One of the partners soon after returned to America. Under the direction of the other, the firm slowly built up its trade and extended the range of its products, and in 1908 a move was made to larger premises. During the First World War Glacier manufactured the die-cast parts for hand grenades, and in response to the demands of the expanding machine industry, which was mass-producing motor vehicles, aircraft, ships, tanks, etc., the firm commenced the manufacture of bearings. This was the beginning of the present manufacturing activities. It was, however, the demands of industry rather than the particular desires of the owner which were determining the structure of the firm. He remained primarily interested in metal. The original metal-making operation still continues in the White Metal Shop, a small section of the Die Casting Department, employing six people and turning out the original anti-friction white metal which is exported all over the world. Around it has grown up the larger manufacturing concern.
