Essex Engineering & Coin-Op Controls Ltd

Essex Engineering & Coin-Op Controls Ltd is a glimpse into the mechanical engineering factory owned by 88-year-old Ken Allen. I have been fascinated by what goes on inside the factory and my curiosity got the better me so, one day I decided I’d knock on the door and ask. Ken invited me in and gave me a tour of the factory. As well as showing me the magnificent machines, Ken revealed his family history of three generations who first arrived in London from rural Italy. His grandfather reputedly won a café in a game of cards, in which there was a one-armed bandit. As his grandfather expanded his café business, he ended up owning 50 one-armed bandits that all needed maintaining. In 1935, the family set up a repair workshop and quickly expanded the company into a mechanical engineering firm sited under a railway arch in Leyton. In 1940, they moved to Wanstead to avoid the bombing raids, setting up the company Essex Engineering (Wanstead) Ltd. During the war, they turned their production towards the war effort, making metal stampings for the M.O.D. Ken said, ‘After the war my father had the idea of making a small, inexpensive sewing machine. He sank everything he had into the project, including his home and the furniture. It was a huge success and by 1956, 200,000 of them were sold. Every department store in the UK sold them, even Harrods. They sold for £3.17.6, that is £3.87 in today’s money’. This success allowed Ken to go to Imperial College, where he discovered his passion for theoretical physics. But in 1959, during Ken’s last year at college, his father died, so at the age of 21, Ken took over the business.