Editing Dagenham (section)

===Economic development===
In 1931 the [[Ford of Britain|Ford Motor Company]] relocated from [[Trafford Park]] in Manchester, to a larger new [[Ford Dagenham|plant in Dagenham]], which was already the location of supplier Briggs Motorway Bodies. A {{convert|500|acre|adj=on}} riverside site was developed to become Europe's largest car plant, a vast [[Vertical integration|vertically integrated]] site with its own [[blast furnace]]s and power station, importing iron ore and exporting finished vehicles. By the 1950s Ford had taken over Briggs at Dagenham and its other sites at [[Doncaster]], [[Southampton]], [[Croydon]] and [[Romford]]. At its peak the Dagenham plant had {{convert|4000000|ft2}} of floor space and employed over 40,000 people, although this number gradually fell during the final three decades of the 20th century as production methods advanced and Ford invested in other European factories as well. Some of Britain's best selling cars, including the [[Ford Fiesta|Fiesta]], [[Ford Escort (North America)|Escort]], [[Ford Cortina|Cortina]] and [[Ford Sierra|Sierra]], were produced at the plant over the next 71 years.<ref>Ford UK – [http://www.ford.co.uk/ie/htg_fib/-/htg_fib_WW21970/-/-/-/- History of Ford in Britain] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071217091509/http://www.ford.co.uk/ie/htg_fib/-/htg_fib_WW21970/-/-/-/-|date=17 December 2007}}</ref>

On 20 February 2002, full production was discontinued due to overcapacity in Europe and the relative difficulty of upgrading the ageing site compared with mostly newer European production facilities such as [[Almussafes]] ([[Valencia (province)|Valencia]], Spain) and [[Cologne]]. Other factors leading to the closure of the Auto-assembly line were the need of the site for the new Diesel Centre of Excellence, which produces half of Ford's Diesel Engines worldwide, and the UK employment laws when compared to Spanish, German and Belgian laws.

In 2005 Cummins went into a joint venture and offered $15 million (US) to reinstate the factory. Ford and Cummins offered a good redundancy package, billed as one of the best in UK manufacturing. It is the location of the [[Dagenham wind turbines]].<ref name=gla>Greater London Authority – ''[http://www.london.gov.uk/archive/mayor/planning_decisions/strategic_dev/2003/jun0403/wind_turbines_report_havering.rtf Wind Turbines, Ford Estate, Dagenham planning application] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604095224/http://www.london.gov.uk/archive/mayor/planning_decisions/strategic_dev/2003/jun0403/wind_turbines_report_havering.rtf |date=4 June 2011 }}''. 4 June 2003.</ref> Some 4,000 people now work at the Ford plant.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.thedetroitbureau.com/2009/05/milestones-ford-dagenham-estate-celebrates-80-years-of-manufacturing/ |title=Milestones: Ford Dagenham Estate Celebrates 80 Years of Manufacturing |website=www.thedetroitbureau.com |date=13 May 2009|accessdate=8 August 2012}}</ref> The movie ''[[Made in Dagenham]]'' (2010) is a dramatisation of the [[1968 Ford sewing machinists strike]] at the plant, when female workers walked out in protest against sexual discrimination and unequal pay.

[[Sterling Armaments Company|Sterling]], who manufactured British Army weapons and Jaguar car parts, were also based in Dagenham until they went bankrupt in 1988.

Other industrial names once known worldwide were [[British Ever Ready Electrical Company|Ever Ready]], whose batteries could be found in shops throughout the [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]], [[Asian Paints|Bergers Paint]] and the chemical firm of [[May & Baker]] who in 1935 revolutionized the production of [[antibiotics]] with their synthetic sulfa-drug known as [[Sulfapyridine|M&B 693]]. The May & Baker plant, owned and run by [[Sanofi-Aventis]], occupied a 108-acre site in Rainham Road South, near [[Dagenham East tube station|Dagenham East Underground station]]. It was abandoned in 2013 when the company closed it. BeFirst, a company working on behalf of the council, began to redevelop the site for commercial opportunities. It is now the [[London East Business and Technical Park]]. NTT have their London1 data centre on this site, and the Eastbrook Studios is currently under construction.