Page 7 - HeritageEbooklet

The arrival of Rolls-Royce

Henry Royce established an electrical and mechanical business in Manchester
in 1884, but it wasn’t until 1904 that he built his first motor car (the two-
cylinder Royce 10). On 4 May that same year, Henry Royce met Charles
Rolls, who was the owner of CS Rolls & Co – a retailer of high quality cars.
Rolls was very impressed with the Royce 10 and a deal was struck: Royce
Limited would make a range of cars to be sold exclusively by CS Rolls & Co.
These motor cars would bear the name Rolls-Royce.

The success of this partnership led to the formation of the Rolls-Royce
company on 15 March 1906 and the company’s six-cylinder Silver Ghost
was quickly heralded as ‘the best car in the world’.

Rolls and Royce began to look for a suitable place to build a new car factory
for their expanding business. They inspected various sites in Manchester
and other locations, but eventually chose Nightingale Road in Derby for
their new premises. They visited the 12.7 acre site in December 1906
and were attracted by the council’s offer of land at an affordable price,
opportunities for further development and a long term agreement for
low-cost electricity.

In April 1907 Rolls-Royce Limited formally announced its intention to relocate to
Derby. The Motor Works were constructed using prefabricated steel frames
made by Handyside & Co of Derby (the company which constructed the
Friar Gate Bridge) and the factory was officially opened on 9 July 1908.

Derby City Council and picturethepast.org.uk
The Rolls-Royce factory on Nightingale
Road shortly after it opened.

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