2-357-472 - Worldwide Photography/Heritage-Images

The final stages of cooker assembly at the GEC plant, Swinton, South Yorkshire, 1960. The GEC, which was formed in 1900, first acquired a factory in Swinton, near Rotherham, during the Second World War, when it produced munitions. After the war, cooker production was based in Birmingham but the company struggled to find good workers, possibly due to the motor industry (which shared the same skills) offering more money. The directors decided to manufacture cookers at Swinton and the first cooker came off the production line in June 1946.