A growing history
WH Bence has seen rapid growth since its foundation in 1982. It also has an predecessor from the early 1900s.
1982 was a bad and good year for Bristol’s coachbuilding industry. When three of the region’s specialist vehicle companies went into receivership, putting James Brown out of work, he decided “perhaps rather rashly” to launch his own company. Using the 6000sq ft coach painting shop of the former Longwell Green Coachworks, a loan from Barclays Bank, six coachbuilders and two painters, James was in business and WH Bence was born.
The site included three build bays and a paint bay. A new wooden shed became the stores, with a Portakabin for offices. Expansion was rapid, growing to a two-storey Portakabin in the second year! As more of the Longwell Green site became available, Bence moved their paintshop and added more building bays. By 1987 space was again at a premium and James purchased a 1.4 acre site at Armstrong Way close by. It was a true family affair with his brother building a factory on the site which opened on Independence Day, 4 July 1988.
“It was remarkable day”, James comments, “as our new workshop seemed absolutely enormous, which of course it was being three times the size of our original unit.”
By 2000, Bence were renting a further 1.4 acres of storage on the Badminton Road Trading Estate (considerable progress from their predecessors in this photograph taken in Victorian times), but growth was still outstripping the space. Badminton Road was duly purchased and the support and maintenance team moved from Armstrong Road to their new home with a purpose built unit comprising 2000sq ft of office and storage space and a 3500sq ft, three-bay commercial vehicle maintenance workshop including inspection pit with power jacking system and a rolling road brake tester.
Four years later, Bence built a new paint preparation and spray shop facility on the Armstrong Way site. This included a low bake oven with the latest paint extraction system, the latest air-powered wall mounted gantries for the sprayers to move easily across the vehicles, and a preparation bay with the latest dust extraction equipment.
Today, Bence employs a team of around 60 full time staff - some of whom have been with Bence for more than twenty years. With contracts rolling in from the medical, motorsport and emergency services sectors, the company’s history of growth looks set to continue.