Recorded Memories

Ron Massey Interview. November 2000

‘They took the first letter of each of their names Ritchsteiger – R and Gildersgame – G and made it Argee Company.
That was way back in the 1920s…’

‘I always had an open door…a constant stream of people would bring in problems…I can’t understand the attitude where
people haven’t got time to do the thing properly…’

The Argee started business with a few sewing machines in London during the 1920s. The business was established by Albert Ritchsteiger and Leon Gildesgame and took the first letter of each of their names Ritchsteiger – R and Gildesgame – G. Albert Ritchsteiger left the business before the Second World War and between the setting up of business and the Second World War the company had prospered and two factories based in the East End of London were already manufacturing for Marks and Spencer. Pierre Gildesgame, Leon’s younger brother was now in charge, Leon having left to live in America. Pierre Gildesgame decided to relocate because of the bombing now taking place in London and came to Earl Shilton, taking over a derelict factory, Highfield Mills, on
Keats Lane.

The Argee relocated to Earl Shilton sometime before Christmas in 1940, bringing a few people from the London factories andcontinued to manufacture for the War Department during the war. Local people thought Highfield Mills would bring bad luck to the new company which took over the premises – apparently the factory had had a chequered history – several companies having gone bankrupt while working from the premises. The last company to work from the building had been producing wallpaper. The Argee, however, prospered and after the war went back to manufacturing ladies underwear and supplying Littlewoods, British Home Stores and Marks and Spencer but gradually produced exclusively for Marks and Spencer which they continued to do until the company closed in Earl Shilton.
The company was taken over by Derby and Midland Mills during the 1960s (Ron couldn’t give exact dates). They made nylon fabric and wanted companies such as the Argee to ‘take their fabric and go vertical’ – the nylon fabric would be used in the production of garments. Derby and Midland Mills were in turn taken over by Courtaulds where they continued business until 1995 when the business closed. Ron commented that the Gildesgame’s were very nice people and a commemorative plaque is situated at Burbage Common. Pierre Gildesgame was tragically killed while visiting his wife in hospital in London.

Ron Massey started work with Argee in 1947 and moved to Earl Shilton in 1951 after his marriage. He learnt about the history of the company through work colleagues particularly the O’Rourke sisters who came up from London to work at the new premises. Ron came into the company on the accounting side and did not get involved in the manufacturing side of the business until the 1970s. There were about 120 people working at the Argee when Ron first started. He thought of it as a very happy place to work and Pierre Gildesgame ‘treated it very much as a family affair’. Parties were held annually. Ron noted that when he first came to work and live in Earl Shilton ‘every little side street had two or three factories – New Street, Highfield Street, Keats Lane. Factories included Whitmore’s, Argee, Valdetta, Bradbury’s. He became very interested in the local history noting that A.J. Norton (Norton and Bradbury) must have been a very wealthy farmer possibly living in a big farmhouse on Church Street. He also spoke about Reverend Tower who during the mid 1800s carried out a mass marriage service having discovered that many of the inhabitants although living together weren’t married.

Ron began his working life at the Argee purely doing the accounts and didn’t have contact with the factory – his office being situated at the front of the building but over the years he felt that ‘he developed with the business’ and did get more involved in the manufacturing side. He started up a drama group, most of the people involved worked in the office but not all. Ron was 28 when he went to work at the Argee and at the interview Mr Gildesgame asked him if he could do decimals which he could - one of his first jobs was working out the yield of the cloth eg ‘so many yards down and they got so many dozens out of it’. For instance if there were faults in the fabric, the yield wouldn’t be as good. The book keeping in those days was all hand written. The principal customer was Marks and Spencer and a contract would be drawn up whereby many thousand dozen of a particular style were made up. The order was kept in the stockroom and every fortnight Marks and Spencer would send a delivery instruction and stating what they wanted delivering to individual stores – 2 dozen to Bournemouth, 2 dozen to … It was very laborious, three pages of handwriting for each individual invoice. This was the simple part of it, there were also the quarterly accounts and annual accounts. Ron commented that he was always ‘acquiring jobs’ – ordering fabrics and negotiating with suppliers and so on. The experience and the job built up so that in time Ron was in a position to manage the company. Ron would always bring work home and at times would be working on accounts until 2 o’clock in the morning. Ron enjoyed his job and had a sense of responsibility and a deadline to meet. He kept an ‘open-door’ and had a constant stream of people bringing problems - he can’t understand the attitude where people haven’t got time to do the thing properly and give themselves to it’.

Ron retired in 1988 having spent the last 2½ years of his working life working in Derby. It had been decided by Coutaulds that the Argee should not continue to be an individual supplier to Marks and Spencer but should become a part of one of the other Coutaulds companies and so Ron’s position at the Argee no longer existed. Ron didn’t want to retire at 65 but wanted to continue working until the age of 70 but did eventually retire at the age of 69. Ron enjoyed all his working life and would ideally have liked to have continued working and never minded working long hours.