I love it when people say lets face the facts.......
Thanks to Bob Reid for his bit of research of the current UK (registered) trademark database. That begins to clarify things a bit.
I don t know if this story is fact, but heres a published bit of
history that was added by Flash to the Hetchins History website
this past October. http://www.hetchins.org/
Heres the story Flash tells:
" 6.10.2
SUBSEQUENT HISTORY
At the time of the move to Southend in 1974, Jack Denny was a man of advanced years and after 1977 Alf subcontracted nearly all production to Bob Jackson Cycles in Leeds. This was a reasonable choice for a number of reasons: Bob Jackson and Alf had been friends for many years; Bob Jackson's master frame builder, Danny Foster, had decades of experience; Jackson Cycles also had excellent enamelling facilities (Hetchin had always subcontracted enamelling anyway). Jack Denny retired in 1977 but continued to build frames in very small numbers (this is confirmed by people on the ground in Southend, and is also mentioned in O'Neill's article).
In 1982 Alf commissioned a viability report, the gist of which was that the firm could not survive in its present condition. Mail order firms were forcing small bike shops and frame builders out of business all over the UK. Alf would have to invest substantial funds in modernization, or give up. In 1986, Alf sold the business to a London businessman (who also bought Bob Jackson Cycles). The new owner placed the operations under new management. Operations continued under this arrangement until about 1989; Alf carried on as a part-time consultant until 1990.
The last frame believed to have been made in the period up to 1986 is an MO and bears the frame number H13268. It was probably made in Leeds. Frames made after 1986 bear frame numbers of the form 86xxx.
In 1986, nine years after his retirement, Jack Denny returned, partly for "promotional" reasons. Some improvements were made to the shop in Southend to enable him to make production again, but (devoted Americans notwithstanding) the shop could no longer produce enuf frames to keep going. One source claimed that Jack could not have made more than 20 to 30 frames at Southend after 1986 and that he re-retired about 18 months later. Jack Denny was born in 1906 and passed on in 1991. Alf was born 24 Sept 1923 and passed away at the age of 72, just 4 years after Jack.
David Miller replaced the previous manager in 1989; he described the shop as being in "time warp condition". In June 1990 the property in Southend was closed and sold; the remaining stocks were moved to Bob Jackson Cycles in Leeds in order to manage the two operations without the overhead of two separate locations.
In 1993 David Miller left BJC taking the Hetchins name with him. Since then David Miller has been responsible for the construction of Hetchins frames. Bob Jackson came out of retirement and bought back BJC; it is now run by Donald Thomas.
The article by Hugh O'Neill mentions 1950s lug blanks seen as late as 1982. Another visitor to the shop reported that there were 3 large cardboard boxes of pre-cast cognisenti/connosente (Italian/Latin spelling) lugsets left around and was told by Alf that very few frames had been made in that style as they were not very popular. "There were a few odd lugs (no sets to my knowledge) of MO, MB, ECii etc. I suspect from memory, that these were rejects i.e., faults in castings and pressings".
I wish to thank the following sources for the above information: David Miller (Hetchins), Donald Thomas (Bob Jackson Cycles), and others who were familiar with the shop in Southend at the time. "
To clarify, the unnamed businessman that bought Hetchins from Alf in 1986 is the same man who still owns the company I am told - it is not David Miller. I have emailed with David from time to time over the past year, (Indeed he has an email address and responds to it). He has never made any bones about outsourcing current work or that Hetchins regularly outsourced its production over the years that it existed - whoever owned it.
As a former exec for a fairly sizeable manufacturing company I can tell you that "make or buy" decisions are normal and ongoing. While folks like E- Ritchie, Brian B., Richard Moon, Ed litton, etc. do most of the frame assembly and finishing themselves, they are buying their tubing, lugs, paint and decals from someone else. If demand for lugged steel frames returned to the point that they could no longer meet demand a few things would happen - delivery times would get longer, prices would rise, more people would enter the business and they MIGHT elect to hire some help. As David M pointed out, if you look at the production numbers (also on Flash' website), youll see annual volumes that were beyond the abilities of any one man. There were more than one framemaker and there was outside supplementation.
To respond to Richard Sachs - since I know he knows this - I ponied up and bought a frame made sometime between 1974 and 1984 depending on whos doing the research. The lugs are second generation Magnum Opus - so 60's. The fork crown is the older double plate version from the 60s. The vibrant chainstays and bottom bracket are consistent with second generation MO production. The topeyes, seatstays and rear Campagnolo short dropouts date to the mid 70s. Who made it??? I dont know. The Campagnolo short dropouts only became available after 74 (thank you Chuck). So the whole was probably made sometime after that. Not Tottenham. In some opinions probably Southend. Based on Flash' research, possibly Bob Jackson. Facts? Facts....... Its a cool bike and its fun to ride. The mystery and the mythology just add to the pleasure. Im a confirmed introvert who loves it when people come up and say "Wow, what a cool ol' bike".
Its time to think about turkey
Tom Rawson
Oakland, CA