Imperial History
In 1914 Imperial Engineering Motor Works was founded by father and son Daniel Harold Dwight and Albert Daniel Dwight. The two had gained their engineering skills working for the Daimler Company and set up a workshop where they serviced taxi cabs in an old coach house in Ingleby Road, Holloway. The company employed six people and all the machinery was gas driven.
Following the Depression of the1930s Imperial had to diversify their business due to the demise of their principal account the Gilford Motor Company. In 1937 Albert William Daniel Dwight, the grandson of Daniel, joined the company, which had by then earned a reputation for reliable reconditioning of commercial vehicle components.
By 1952 Albert William Daniel Dwight was the sole proprietor and had moved the business to larger premises in Hornsey Road, Holloway, where it continued to concentrate on reconditioning and repairs.
In 1964 Imperial Engineering became a Limited Company incorporated as A.W.D Dwight & Sons (Engineers) Ltd.
The family business continued to grow and in 1971 the Company relocated to its current factory in Cheshunt. This factory already had its own engineering pedigree, being the original site of Colin Chapman's Lotus car company, from where the Lotus Cortina was developed.
It was in 1971 that the great grandson of the founder Geoffrey Dwight joined the Company, followed five years later, in 1976, by his brother Stephen. In their roles as Engineering and Financial Director respectively they consolidated and diversified the business. In 1980 Ken Baggott joined the Company and, as Sales Director, brought further professionalism to our business. By the early 1990's the Company was primarily servicing the Bus Industry where following deregulation, these Companies had sought outside engineering support for their bus fleets. Our Engineering workshop was largely dedicated to the repair and remanufacture of components for the famous Routemaster bus, which we supported for over 20 years right up until its withdrawal in 2006.
The M25 provided the Company with excellent access to both London and the motorway networks, which facilitated excellent access to the extensive range of Bus Companies being serviced by Imperial's fleet of vehicles.
In the early 1990's the Company recognised the need for fundamental change and chose to concentrate its business on the supply of new OE products instead of remanufactured components. In 1994 Imperial was appointed an Authorised Distributor for Knorr Bremse, soon followed by similar appointments with Wabco Automotive, Dana Spicer and more recently Haldex . These Original Equipment Manufacturers are synonymous with the highest standards that meet the criteria set by the Bus Industry where quality and safety are paramount.
The Company still retains a small, dedicated team of machinists, fitters and welders who can carry out specialist repairs on bus heavy duty under chassis items.
A fifth generation of the Dwight family, in James and John Dwight, have joined the Company in the last 5 years, and are carrying forward the Imperial ethos, developing the professionalism, expertise and product quality that is demanded by the modern Bus industry, from its suppliers.
The Company has come a long way in its 90+ years history but knows only too well that it has to continue evolving. The belief that nobody is more important than our customers remains our philosophy for the future.