Imperial Works
Morden Road

Litho Printing on Steel and Metal Sheet Processing

Source:
Borough of Mitcham List of Factories,
Town Clerk’s Department,
July 1963.
Available at Merton Heritage and Local Studies Centre at Morden Library.
Reference L2 (670) MIT

From the ‘brewery trays’ website (link not working 27/12/2018):

WWI ‘The Great War Years’ 1914 – 1918
 
In 1914 business was interrupted by the outbreak of World War I. Much of HCW Ltd’s continued success during this period was not due to tray manufacturing. Metal printing was put on hold and for the next four years the Imperial Works produced millions of items for the British Forces. One of the biggest successes, and HCW Ltd’s speciality, was water-bottles which were pressed on the machines which had previously produced showcards and waiter trays. These same bottles were then covered in khaki by the factory’s considerable female labour force who became disrespectfully known as “the sewing party”.

Current company contact
21 High Street
Ewell Village
Surrey. KT17 1SB

Tel: 0208 394 2785

From Grace’s Guide to British Industrial History – 1914 Who’s Who in Business

HANCOCK & CORFIELD, Ltd., ColourPrinters (Posters, Showcards, &c.). Imperial Works, Mitcham, near London.
Hours of Business: 8 a.m. to 6.30 p.m.
Established twenty-three years ago to take over the patent rights from the Embossed Metal Tablet Co., Gray’s Inn Road, E.C., for Printing and Embossing Metal for advertising purposes, and in 1904 acquired the business of Messrs. Waller, Willis & Co., Colour Printers.
Incorporated as a Private Limited Company.
Directors: John Corfield (Managing Director), Reginald Corfield, William Henry Waller.
Premises: Large Factory with floorage covering about three acres at the Imperial Works, Morden Road, Mitcham.
Staff: 300.
Branches: Glasgow, Birmingham, Belfast, Manchester, Den Haag, Holland, and Australia.
Specialities: Artistic Colour Printing on Metal, Aluminium and Paper, Steel, Iron, Tin, Zinc, &c. Are Manufacturers of Embossed Iron Advertisement Tablets, General Printing and Lithography. Are well known for the excellence of their work, and for the introduction of novelties in designs. Specialize in all Advertising Novelties.
Connection: World-wide. Contractors to H.M. Government (Admiralty, War Office, Post Office).
Telephones: Nos. 1202 and 1203 Wimbledon.
Telegraphic Address: ” Corfield, Mitcham.”

From the Imperial war Museum online collection:

Watney’s© IWM (Art.IWM PST 4651)

Dunlop Cycle Tyres© IWM (Art.IWM PST 13686)