The nickel-cadmium industrial battery is a specialist battery used in situations
wher a high reliability battery is required. Redditch was unique in having two alkaline
battery manufacturers within its area and in its heyday it was one of the major sites
for the manufacture of this type of battery throughout the world.
The first to arrive was Batteries Limited which was established in 1918 as a subsidiary
of the Swedish battery company Svenska Ackumulator AB Jungner and operated at Hunt
End. In 1929 a second battery company, Britannia Batteries was set up in 1929 in
the old Edie Manufacturing factory in Union Street. The two companies were merged
in 1947 to become Alkaline Batteries Ltd, and were based at the Union Street site.
In 1973 Chloride acquired the company and the name was changed to Chloride Alcad
- although in Redditch it was always known as ‘The Batteries’. At its peak it employed
over 600 workers.
In 1998, after a long history and two changes of ownership, the company, now called
Alcad Ltd and owned by the French company Saft, was closed down. Production was moved
to the Saft Nife manufacturing site in Sweden, so ending 75 years of nickel-cadmium
battery manufacturing in Redditch.
After 5 years of decontamination work, the site was declared environmentally safe
and sold for redevelopment. It now houses the B&Q superstore, Matalan, a housing
development and, soon, a mosque. The only reminder of ‘The Batteries’ is the original
fence and gates which run along the B&Q perimeter in Union Street (right)
