One of the gloomiest days in Triumph’s history came in 1973 when the Norton-Villiers-Triumph (NVT) chairman Dennis Poore ordered a meeting with Meriden’s union stewards to inform them he intended to close the Triumph plant and ship tooling to Small Heath in Birmingham. At the same time, they’re told he expects them to continue the production of the 1974 models, which began in August.
What he got was an immediate sit-in strike by the Meriden workforce and a subsequent blockading of the gates for the next 18 months. Around 80 men at a time would assemble by the gates to prevent managers retaking the factory, day and night.
Helped by the government, the Triumph workers’ two-year sit-in would eventually lead to the Meriden Workers Co-operative being set up to buy the factory and market the Triumph motorbikes they produced.
