History of Stratford companies NC Joseph and Stratford Canners subject of book

THE wartime effort of two Stratford companies formed by brothers Barney and Norman Joseph has been detailed in a new book. The book, entitled NC Joseph Ltd The Aluminium Works & Stratford Produce Canners takes a look at the two companies’ time as industrial powerhouses in 20th century Stratford.

Supported by Stratford Town Trust and Warwickshire Industrial Archaeological Society (WIAS), the book has been compiled by Martin Green, chair of WIAS and Brian Joseph, grandson of Barney.

It provides an in-depth look into the history of the two companies that were located on Birmingham Road.

NC Joseph was formed before the First World War in 1911 in Birmingham and was moved to Stratford in 1920. The brothers started in the engineering business as very young men. At the time they went into aluminium and aluminium products, a metal that was still very new. They moved into this industry with no experience.

In the 1930s, they moved into food canning and, again, there was no experience of food canning. It really was absolutely pioneering. Around three years before the start of the Second World War, the company started ramping up towards war production.

Products like exhaust manifolds for Rolls Royce Merlin engines that powered Lancaster bombers and Spitfires. They also made undercarriage components, bomb casings and tank wheels.

Stratford Canners was opened in 1932 and during the war, the cannery supplied over 41 million tins of food-based products to the armed forces and to prisoners of war.

Ahead of the war, air raid shelters were built off Birmingham Road in fields next to the factories that could accommodate the entire 450 workforce. They were used for the first time on the 6th September 1939. It was mid-shift at the factory and everybody was evacuated into the shelters.

After the war, NC Joseph was given contracts to help with the reconstruction effort. Prefabricated houses became important in replacing the housing stock, producing pots and pans and kitchen and storage cupboards.

One of the stories in the book takes a look at a young Stratford soldier who served in Tunisia. As part of his ration pack, he opened it to find he had a tin of fruit from the Stratford Produce Canners, giving him a reminder of home. It was one of millions of tins created for soldiers during the war.

Reunions designed to bring together former employees of the two companies have taken place on two occasions, with the most recent being in March 2025.

Talking about these, Brian said: “The reunions were absolutely extraordinary in terms of several things. The camaraderie among the people that were there. The respect and admiration for the products and the quality of the products, because quality was a constant requirement in both businesses.

“There is definitely some more of the employee network that we haven’t really tapped into because the main focus was on Stratford, but the second reunion wasn’t advertised anywhere else other than Stratford. Yet since then we’ve had one lady who had 30 years’ experience and would love to get involved again.”

Brian added: “The reunions will be driven by people within the business, as opposed to Martin and myself, because really it’s their memories. We’ve been a bit of a facilitator for them getting together and prompting the stories, just as in the same way they have been huge facilitators for the material for the book. There was already talk in March of putting a date in the diary for next year’s reunion.”

Copies of the book can be purchased via the Warwickshire Industrial Archaeology Society website – https://shorturl.at/uV9Q5