History

The following is a brief summary of the history of Tickford from its infancy as Salmons and Sons through to the present day company.

The current Tickford company was formed in 1981 as a family member to Aston Martin Lagonda. However the companies origin stretches way back

to 1820.

During 1820 a company named Salmons and Sons commenced trading in Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire. This company was run from within the

grounds of what used to be Tickford Abbey. Salmon and Sons were originally builders of horse drawn carriages then progressed into building very

high specification quality bodies for motorised vehicles. During the early part of the nineteenth century the first vehicles were produced with

‘Tickford’ bodies. By the late 1930’s the Tickford name was synonymous with a range of extremely prestigious patented convertible hoods.

In 1942 the company was renamed Tickford Limited and continued to thrive in the specialist body building market, producing luxury bodies for many

motor manufacturers. With the arrival of 1955 Tickford was acquired by David Brown, owner of Aston Martin. Numerous Aston’s were fitted with

Tickford bodies.

During the late 1950’s the Tickford name was allowed to ‘die’. However, during 1981 it became abundantly clear to Aston Martin Lagonda that there

was a growing demand for engineering and coach building skills held within the company, hence the rebirth of the Tickford company.

Tickford forced themselves back into the public view in 1981 with a very highly publicised launch of a special version of the Metro, designed by the

distinguished Simon Saunders.

The metro was fitted with a body kit. Inside, the metro had leather dash, rear quarter panels. Some models were trimmed throughout in leather.

There was no standard model of the metro as with many of the vehicles produced by Tickford. Basically, a purchaser could ask and receive for any

level of extras providing of course the bank balance stretched that far! There were at least seventeen options specified by Tickford alone. In 1984 over

one hundred people worked for Tickford, many being highly skilled engineers and craftsmen. Expansion in this year saw the company’s turnover

exceed the £3 million mark, while in this day and age £3 million may not be seen as a great deal of money, remember, this was 1984.

Tickford has three main roles, each has a separate division within the company:

Special vehicle production.

Coach building.

Engineering.

The engineering division was taken over complete from A.M. Lagonda during 1981. Tickford could and still will tackle any motor engineering problem

from a 200 mph racing car to an off road motor vehicle. A project can be taken through from concept to evaluation, type approval and pre-production

stage.

Some of the major companies for whom Tickford have carried out projects are:

Aston Martin Lagonda. Ford GB. BMW.

Jaguar Cars.

Ford Rally Sport.

VAG.

Ferrari.

TVR. Mercedes.

Ford Trucks.

General Motors (North America).

Freight Rover.

General Motors (Europe).

Peugeot Talbot.

Fiat (UK).

Austin Rover Group.

British Rail.

Metro Cammell.

Carbodies.

The production unit moved from Milton Keynes to Bedworth and was used as a base from which to build the Tickford Turbo Capri. It was from these

premises that a number of Ford Capris’ were turned into the Turbo powered, 140 mph, with breathtaking accelerating and extrovert looking Tickford

Turbo Capri. When the name Tickford is mentioned it is to this vehicle that one’s thoughts turn immediately.

After the Capri, Tickford worked with MG to created the Maestro Turbo and Ford to create the Sierra Cosworth RS500 and the road version of the

RS200.

The hood on the Jaguar XJS convertible was designed by Tickford. These cars were originally converted by Tickford themselves, but it was so

successful that Jaguar setup a production line to cope with demand.

In 1997 Tickford closed there production facility at Bedworth and moved back to Milton Keynes to a brand new site.

In 1991 after a worldwide search, Ford of Australia selected Tickford as a joint venture partner, resulting in Tickford Vehicle Engineering Pty Ltd (TVE)

being established in Melbourne. All the research and development work done at Milton Keynes headquarters in the UK. This off-shoot was developed

as a high performance car division of Ford in Australia. Cars produced during this time included the Falcon XR6 and the XR8 models and Tickford also

engineered a range of higher performance cars called the T series ( TE50 & TS50) also based on the Falcon, plus the TL50 derived from the Fairline.

The T-series models were lauched in October 1999 under the FTE name, FTE being the acronym for Ford Tickford Experience. The "T-Series" was

produced in very limited numbers with less than 500 built. The third series, known as the T3 was the last model from Tickford.

In 1999 Tickford gained the contract to build the Ford Racing Puma, of which 500 units were produced over the year 2000 in a brand new facility setup

in Daventry.

In 2001 while Tickford in the UK was producing the Focus RS for Ford, the whole Tickford Group (uk, Germany, Australia and USA) was acquired by

Prodrive, the British motor sport company. Prodrive sold off the USA site and in 2002 TVE Australia was sold to Ford and re-branded as Performance

Vehicles. Once again the Tickford name was allowed to die.

In December 2006 the former UK Tickford management now going under the name Prodrive Test Technology was still operating at the old Tickford

site at Milton Keynes as a mainly seperate entity. They instigated a full management buyout and repurchased the Tickford business and the use of

the Tickford wings logo from Prodrive. They swiftly named it Tickford Powertrain Test, which represented best the current work the company,

(Tickford Limited was not now available) The company was now fully independent once more with the main business focusing on engine and vehicle

testing requirements for vehicle manufacturers and component companies as well as catalyst and petroleum industries.

In june 2007 the company acquired Scott Gibbin Ltd, an engine test test and development company and in 2009 the work was transferred to the

Milton Keynes facility.

Intertek acquires Tickford Test Technology Limited

Intertek Group plc (Intertek), a leading provider of quality and safety services to a wide range of industries worldwide, announces that it has acquired

Tickford Test Technology Limited (Tickford), a market leading vehicle engine testing company. Tickford, a privately owned UK company, was

purchased on 31 December 2012 from its management shareholders.

Tickford tests petrol and diesel engines on behalf of manufacturers for a range of services including durability, performance and catalyst

effectiveness as well as testing fuels and lubricants for efficiency and Government and industry environmental standards. The company has a strong

reputation and market position in the UK.

Demand for Tickford's services is expected to grow strongly driven by developments in engine design to improve performance, fuel and emissions

efficiency. Strengthening regulations in the EU over CO2 emissions as well as increasing investment in hybrid and other engine technologies will also

support growth. Tickford complements similar services already provided by Intertek in the US especially, as well as in Asia and will enable both

Intertek's US and Asian customers to divert their European based testing requirements to Tickford as well as Tickford's UK customers to Intertek in

the US and Asia.

Tickford has a long history of servicing the high performance car industry including at one point being part of the Aston Martin group. It is located in

Milton Keynes in the UK with 57 full-time employees. The company will form part of Intertek's Commercial & Electrical division.