Cordes Dos Works Newport 1937

(Text and Image from Newport Encyclopaedia 1937)

NEWPORT'S OLDEST WORKS - CORDES (DOS) WORKS
By Alderman F. W. RAIKES J.P Managing Director: Messrs. Cordes (Dos) Works, Ltd.

The Dos Works, as far as our records go, commenced business in 1835 under the name of J. J. Cordes & Co., the original Proprietors being Mr. J. J. Cordes, Mr. Edward Lee, and Mr. F. J. Mitchell.
The Company was turned into a Limited Company in 1883 and traded as J. J. Cordes & Co. Ltd., until 1903, when the present Company under the name of Cordes (Dos) Works Ltd., came in existence.
The Works originally were started as a Patent Wrought Nail Works and employed a method of manufacture previously only used in America.
In the course of time the original class of nails manufactured was superseded by Steel Nails, which are still an important portion of the manufactures of the Works.
Other classes of business have however, by degrees been introduced, and to-day, the Nail Trade is perhaps less than half the trade done at the Works, which comprises the manufacture of Light Rails of various Sections, Steel Arches and Steel Props, as well as Steel Sleepers, Strips and Hoops.
The Works have been modernised to a great extent and today take all their motive power from the Corporation's Electricity Department, and for heating purposes Powdered Fuel has been the means adopted for about the last 15 years.
The Works being on the Railway and alongside the Canal are very well placed for general convenience, and another advantage is the fact that in many cases the same family of employees has been with the firm for 25 to 30 years and this pleasant condition appears likely to be continued.
Although situated almost in the centre of the town and within a short distance from the Railway Station, the Works which occupy about 9 acres of land, have plenty of space for further developments and with the general improvement in trade now being experienced, there seems to be the prospect of increased activity.
The branches of production engaging the Company's attention are typical of the industrial activity of the Newport district, while possessing their own distinctive characteristics. The works are equipped with the most improved plant for steel rolling and for nail manufacture, and a large output is maintained under the following heads:

Patent Steel Nails.
Cut Steel Nails.
Steel Jagged and Plain Dogs.
Cut Steel Tramplate NaiJs.
Steel Wall Ties.
Light Steel Bridge and Flange Rails.
Steel Arches and Tie Rods.
Channel Sleepers and Fishplates.
Mild Steel Hoops.
Stamped Steel Shovels.

All the latest modern requirements are studied by the Company in respect of the above products, and the standards of quality and efficiency maintained are widely recognised and approved. As a consequence of the advanced methods adopted and the sound economic system established at the works, the goods enter the market with everything in their favour from the commercial point of view, and find a very extensive and regular demand in all the great spheres of British home and export trade.
The Company has direct representation in London, Bristol and Birmingham, and the principal foreign and Colonial markets absorb large quantities of its manufactures; while the distribution of the same in all parts of the United Kingdom testifies to the importance and stability of its long-established home-trade interests.