Editing Henry Royce (section)

==Royce Ltd==
The successful public share flotation allowed F. H. Royce & Company to be put into voluntary liquidation, then reconstructed and re-registered with enlarged capital as Royce Ltd on 17 October 1899.<ref name=Reese_Pg27-46/><ref name=Evans/> Royce was managing director with Claremont as chairman. At this point the company had assets of £20,664 a tenfold increase since 1894<ref name=Pugh_Pt1_Pg9-11/>

At the time it described itself as manufacturers of arc lamps, dynamos, meters, electrically driven cranes and hoists. Now that it has sufficient funds the company on 8 June 1901 purchased {{convert|1200|acre|ha|abbr=on}} of land beside the Manchester Ship Canal in the [[Trafford Park]] industrial park.<ref name=Reese_Pg27-46/> Royce oversaw the  design of the new factory, which the company moved into in 1901, though as late as 1903 they were still also using the premises at Cooke Street.<ref name=Pugh_Pt1_Pg9-11/><ref name=Grace2/> The factory was directly opposite the factory of cable maker W. T. Glover whose products Royce Ltd had been using in their work associated with the Manchester Ship Canal. In 1899 its owner Henry Edmunds (1853{{ndash}}1927) became a director of Royce Ltd and Claremont a director of W . T. Glover following an exchange of shares between the two companies. This lead to Henry Royce and Henry Edmunds became business associates and close friends.

His increasing wealth in the latter half of the 1890s led Royce in 1898 to commission architect Paul Ogden (1856-1940) to design for him and his wife a four-bedroom house with two bathrooms on Legh Road in the town of [[Knutsford]], {{convert|14|mi|km|0}} south-west of Manchester.<ref name= Reese_Pg38,41>Reese, pp. 38, 41</ref><ref>{{cite web |date= 27 May 1999 |title= Brae Cottage |url= https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1387751?section=official-list-entry |website= Historic England |accessdate= 24 April 2025}}</ref> Named “Brae Cottage”, it was one of the first houses to have electricity in the area, which was sourced from a generator in a small building in the garden.<ref>{{cite web |last= Morgan |first= David |date= 6 February 2008 |title= House with a history of class |url= https://www.warringtonguardian.co.uk/news/2020442.house-with-a-history-of-class/ |website= Warrington Guardian |accessdate= 24 April 2025}}</ref> Besides music (in particular Gilbert and Sullivan), Royce’s favourite form of relaxation was gardening, but as he worked long hours he installed  floodlights of his own design to allow him to do his gardening in the evening.<ref name=Reese_Pg38,41/> The house was sold in 1907, when Royce moved to Derby.

In 1902, the company supplied electric motors for Pritchetts and Gold, a London-based battery-maker that had diversified into building electric cars.<ref>{{cite web |date= 31 May 2020 |title= Pritchetts and Gold |url= https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Pritchetts_and_Gold |website= Grace's Guide To British Industrial History |accessdate= 23 April 2025}}</ref>
 
Unfortunately, Royce’s plans for ongoing commercial growth were by curtailed by a recession after the [[Second Boer War]] in the European electrical industry. The resulting contraction in their home  market caused German manufacturers to sharply lower the prices of their products on the United Kingdom market.<ref name=Reese_Pg27-46/> Simultaneously there was increased competition from companies such as [[General Electric Company]] (GEC), [[British Thomson-Houston]] which was majority owned by General Electric of America, and the entry of the American [[Westinghouse Electric Corporation|Westinghouse]] (via its subsidiary British Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Co)<ref>{{cite web |date= 26 January 2024 |title= British Westinghouse |url= https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/British_Westinghouse |website= Grace's Guide To British Industrial History |accessdate= 23 April 2025}}</ref> into the United Kingdom market also impacted on Royce Ltd’s profitability.<ref name=Reese_Pg27-46/> For instance, the price of electrical motors had fallen by over 50% by 1905. In response the company attempted to remain competitive by lowering its costs, while maintaining Royce’s personal belief in quality. The financial stress in combination with Royce’s prediction for working long hours began to show.<ref name=Reese_Pg27-46/> As his friend was vital to the success of the company Claremont on medical advice attempted to get Royce out to enjoy the fresh air. To assist in this, on the doctor’s suggestion  Claremont purchased a small [[De Dion-Bouton]] four-wheeler to make it easier for Royce to commute between his home and the factory.<ref name=Reese_Pg27-46/> Despite this in 1902 Royce had a nervous collapse.<ref name=Reese_Pg27-46/> In response to the insistence of the other directors and his wife that he needed a rest, Royce accompanied her on a sea voyage to South Africa to visit her relatives. After ten weeks of no contact with the company a refreshed Royce returned to the United Kingdom in late 1902.<ref name=Reese_Pg27-46/>

With the establishment of Rolls-Royce in 1906 Henry Royce’s involvement in Royce Ltd began to diminish and he soon had little active involvement in the company. When the car business was moved to Derby in 1907 Royce Ltd remained in Trafford Park, continuing to manufacture electrically driven cranes, hoists, capstans and winches.<ref name=Grace2>{{cite web |date= 5 May 2024 |title= Royce |url= https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Royce |website= Grace's Guide To British Industrial History |accessdate= 23 April 2025}}</ref> Claremont continued as its chairman until his death, upon which he was succeeded by his brother Albert Claremont.<ref name=Pugh_Pt1_Pg32>Pugh, ''The Magic of a Name – The First Forty Years'', p. 32</ref>

Although a respected crane-making business, whose products had a reputation for reliability and longevity and were exported around the world,<ref name=Pugh_Pt1_Pg9-11/> it had become unprofitable in the 1920's and was kept afloat by Royce's other business interests.<ref name=Grace2/> It was acquired by rival crane maker Herbert Morris Ltd in November 1932.<ref name=Grace2/><ref name=Tilley>{{Citation |last= Tilley |first= Roy |title= F.H. Royce Ltd and Royce Ltd |journal= New Zealand Rolls-Royce & Bentley Club |issue= 13-4 |pages= 4, 5 |date= 2013}}</ref> They moved the factory to Loughborough and continued manufacturing Royce branded cranes, still to Royce designs, until 16 November 1964.<ref name=Evans/><ref name=Tilley/> A number of Royce cranes are still in use, including one at Rolls-Royce’s factory at Nightingale Road in Derby.

In 2002 the now Morris Material Handling Ltd revived the Royce name to enter the American crane market.<ref>{{cite web |author= <!--Staff writer(s)/no by-line.--> |date= 25 October 2002 |title=Morris resurrects Royce brand for USA  |url= https://www.cranestodaymagazine.com/news/morris-resurrects-royce-brand-for-usa/?cf-view |website= Crane Today |accessdate= 23 April 2025}}</ref>