Scottish Engineering Founded c.1865

Scottish Engineering can trace its roots through antecedents back to 1865.  The organisation is an amalgamation of a number of mainly smaller employers’ associations in Scotland, and it took over 100 years before they all finally came together, as one body, representing the engineering industry throughout the whole of Scotland. 

In the Beginning…..

The first President of the Engineering and Allied Employers’ East of Scotland Association was David C. Mudie in 1865.  Various Presidents followed, the longest serving being Sir William Wallace from 1918 to 1947.  Whether or not a reincarnation of another of the same name will never be known!  What is known is that Wallace was the Managing Director of a well-known engineering firm of the time, Brown Brothers.  By 1940 (if not sooner) other prominent members were MacTaggart Scott & Co Ltd and Bruce Peebles & Co Ltd.   

In theWest

The earliest recorded Minute was a meeting of shipbuilders on the Clyde, held at the Religious Institute Rooms, St George’s Place, Glasgow, on 10th July 1865.  The purpose was to discuss a reduction (yes, a reduction) in wages for carpenters, joiners and blacksmiths.  It became customary for meetings of employers’ associations to adopt ‘resolutions’ and on that day a resolution was adopted that the wage reductions would be carpenters 6 shillings per week, joiners and blacksmiths 3 shillings per week. 

What about elsewhere in Scotland?

Other engineering employers’ associations existed autonomously in Scotland, and were formed in the late 19th Century or early 20th Century, as shown in the following table: 

The first to merge with Scottish Engineering Employers’ Association was Kilmarnock in April 1961, bringing overall membership up to 386 companies, followed by Dundee in December 1974, and finally Aberdeen in April 1978.  In other words, it was not until 1978 that a unified employers’ body existed, representing the interests of engineering and manufacturing throughout Scotland.  A dinner was held in Glasgow to commemorate the occasion. 

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