Silver Cross is an English

private limited company A private limited company is any type of business entity in Privately held company, "private" ownership used in many jurisdictions, in contrast to a Public company, publicly listed company, with some differences from country to country. Example ...

and manufacturer of

baby transport Various methods of transporting children have been used in different cultures and times. These methods include baby carriages (prams in British English), infant car seats, portable bassinets (carrycots), strollers (pushchairs), slings, backpack ...

and other baby-related products, founded in 1877. Based in

Skipton Skipton (also known as Skipton-in-Craven) is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the East Division of Staincliffe Wapentake in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is on the River Aire and the Leeds ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, Silver Cross sells baby prams (perambulators, a type of

) and pushchairs. Its parent company, the Chinese conglomerate

Fosun International Fosun International Limited is a Chinese multinational conglomerate holding company. Founded in 1992 by Guo Guangchang and four others, the company is headquartered in Shanghai and was incorporated in Hong Kong in 2004. Its Co-CEOs are Chen ...

, owns 87.2 percent of the equity. An Early Silver Cross Coach-Built Pram

History

Founding

William Wilson founded the company in 1877 in

Hunslet Hunslet () is an inner-city area in south Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is southeast of the Leeds city centre, city centre and has an industrial past. It is situated in the Hunslet and Riverside (ward), Hunslet and Riverside ward of Lee ...

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

. Wilson's prams used a

spring system In engineering and physics, a spring system or spring network is a model of physics described as a graph with a position at each vertex and a spring of given stiffness and length along each edge. This generalizes Hooke's law to higher dimensions ...

and a reversible hood, which he produced in a factory on Silver Cross Street, Leeds. In 1897, Wilson opened a factory on Whitehouse Street in Leeds. Thereafter, Wilson registered more than 30 patents for pram design. After receiving a

Royal Warrant A royal warrant is a document issued by a monarch which confers rights or privileges on the recipient, or has the effect of law. Royal warrant may refer to: * Royal warrant of appointment, warrant to tradespeople who supply goods or services to a r ...

for baby carriage production, William Wilson died at age 58. Ownership passed to his three sons: James, Irwin, and Alfred.

20th century

In the 1920s and 1930s, the Wilson brothers supplied a Silver Cross baby carriage to

George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until Death and state funeral of George VI, his death in 1952 ...

and

Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was al ...

. By 1936, Silver Cross had moved to a larger factory in

Guiseley Guiseley ( ) is an area in the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated south of Otley and Menston and is now a north-west ...

. In the 1940s and 1950s, Silver Cross developed new techniques for pram production. Plywood bodies were replaced with aluminum, and new rubber die presses, spot-welding machines, and others were installed at the Silver Cross Works. Posters of the time portrayed Silver Cross prams alongside Rolls-Royce cars, leading to the unofficial title of "the Rolls-Royce of Prams". Silver Cross prams came to be seen as old-fashioned.

21st century

In 2002, the company was sold to Alan Halsall for £500,000. While Halsall kept the older designs, most of the company's sales came from more modern designs, such as

car seats A child safety seat, sometimes called an infant safety seat, child restraint system, child seat, baby seat, car seat, or a booster seat, is a seat designed specifically to protect children from injury or death during vehicle collisions. Most c ...

. Additionally, Halsall wanted Silver Cross to partner with complementary British manufacturers, such as furniture makers and toy makers. Halsall also focused on expanding the company into international markets, particularly

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

n territories, including

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

, and

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

. In 2013, Silver Cross entered into a partnership with classic British automotive brand

Aston Martin Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC () is a British manufacturer of Luxury car, luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Headed from 1947 by David Brown (entrepreneur ...

to produce a special edition of the Surf pram and

pushchair Various methods of transporting children have been used in different cultures and times. These methods include baby carriages (prams in British English), infant car seats, portable bassinets (carrycots), strollers (pushchairs), slings, backpack ...

. On July 20, 2015,

announced it had purchased the company from Halsall. As of 2017, Fosun owned 87.23% of the company. In October 2016, the company announced their expansion into the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

via ABC Expo, a

trade show A trade show, also known as trade fair, trade exhibition, or trade exposition, is an exhibition organized so that companies in a specific industry can showcase and demonstrate their latest products and services, meet with industry partners and ...

for children's products.

Products

Silver Cross's coach-built prams have a hard body, C-spring suspension, spoked wheels, and a folding hood. This method of pram construction was developed by William Wilson, who marketed it and registered numerous patents for perambulator design.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Silver Cross (Pram) Manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom Baby products British companies established in 1877 Companies based in Leeds British royal warrant holders Companies based in Skipton