Hans Renold

Renold came to London and soon after to Manchester, Lancashire, in 1873 at the age of 21 and found work with a firm of machinery exporters.

Renold was not only a brilliant engineer and a model employer who built around him a very skilled labour force, but was also a very astute businessman.

His business prospered and he steadily ploughed back his growing profits into premises and plant.

In 1889 a rapid expansion of the business took place and a new factory, Progress Works, was built in Brook Street.

Renold had long been devoted to the ideal of establishing a firm sense of community among his employees and their families and in 1909 gave his active support to the establishment of the Hans Renold Social Union for the encouragement of a wide range of leisure activities.