The History of Blundell Harling Ltd.
Harling Instruments
W.H. Harling was a young apprentice to W.F. Stanley Ltd., a company who manufactured drawing instruments. After a time, he decided to form his own company, based in Hatton Garden (then later Hackney) in 1848. The company soon built up a reputation for hight quality products. They exhibited in the ‘Great Exhibition’ at Crystal Palace in 1851 which showcased the best of British engineering.
Their products included rules, compasses, tee squares, parallel rules, and slide rules.
Blundell Brothers Ltd
The original company, Blundell Brothers Ltd. was founded in 1852 as drapers and furnishers and based in Luton.
W. H. Harling Drawing Instruments
In 1913, a new factory was built in Upper Clapton.
Ministry of Supply
During the First World War (1939-1945) the company began making machined components for the Ministry of Supply.
Leading the way
In 1945, the company began producing slide rules due to a country-wide shortage after the war. Blundell Rules become a leading manufacturer.
Blundell Rules Ltd
In 1948, a separate company, Blundell Rules Ltd. was created by Mr. Allison Blundell to manufacture drawing products.
Weymouth, Dorset
In 1955, Blundell Brothers was taken over by a third party and Blundell Rules needed to vacate the Luton premises. A new factory was built in Weymouth, Dorset and the company moved into its new premises in 1956, along with twelve of the original employees.
Merger
In 1961, Blundell Rules purchased Harling Instruments.
Blundell Harling Ltd.
In 1964, Harling moved to Weymouth and a new company was formed, Blundell Harling Ltd.
The company become a leading manufacturer of drawing boards, plastic and wood rules and scale rules.
When Allison Blundell retired, the company passed to his son, Terence Blundell.
Development
The 1970’s saw the decline of the slide rule due to the development of the electronic calculator. The company then developed custom slide charts and disc calculators such as the BMI Disc and the Concrete Volume calculator.
The change from imperial to metric measuring systems gave rise to many products to aid the changeover, including the Metriverter slide chart.
Working closely with the Ministry of Defence, a wide range of products was designed for military use. Nautical and Aeronautical navigation products, such as plotters, rules, and dividers, were also developed.
Office Furniture
In 1989, Blundell Harling purchased Magpie Furniture and developed a range of high-quality office furniture.
Mr. Tim Blundell took over the company from his father, Terence.
New Factory in Weymouth
In the early 2000s, Blundell Harling moved to a new custom-built factory on the Granby Industrial Estate in Weymouth.
Acquisition of BH Amerson
Soon after, in 2003, the company bought Amerson Ltd. from Bristol. The manufacturing of custom metal filing cabinets for G.P. and Dentist surgeries was moved to the Weymouth site.
Changing Markets
The early 2020s saw a reduced market for drawing boards (with most drawing now done on computers), office furniture (due to home working becoming the normal after the Covid pandemic) and the reduced need for filing cabinets (as most surgeries began switching to wholly online record keeping).
Changing Markets
In 2024, the production of drawing boards, office furniture and filing cabinets was sadly brought to a close.
Present Day…
Blundell Harling continues to be a family-owned company who are now focusing on their plastic product range; rules, plotters, disc calculators, and slide charts etc. for a wide range of worldwide markets.
The recent inclusion of full colour digital printing capabilities has increased the variety of the product range on offer.
The company remains very customer-service-oriented and still focuses on offering high-quality products in an ever-changing global marketplace.
