In 1953 the company moved to Maypole Lane, Kings Heath and in 1958 Bert Doherty bought Victor Gabriel out of the business. Under the guidance of Bert, the company knew that product quality had to change and that the very mixed bag of machines that had been accumulated during the war had to be rationalised and upgraded. So in 1961 Patrick Doherty, son of Bert, set out for Germany, now far more advanced than the UK in manufacturing technology in this industry and went to work for Index in Esslingen aum Necker.
Growth continued on a haphazard basis until 1963 when Hoover, then in Perivale, made a new electric motor and W H Doherty & Co got the business of making the armature shaft. So began the business of spindle and shaft specialisation. The life of that particular shaft for Hoover was well in excess of 10 years and lasted long after Hoover had left their Perivale factory. The long life of this product and the excellent learning opportunity it gave the company, together with the new technologies and international relationships that were being built up enabled the company to stay in the forefront of the market.
W H Doherty (on the left) and Herward Winkelmann (on the right wearing glasses), Sales Director of Index
Herward Winkelmann demonstrating the new C29 machine to William Herbert Doherty in 1961
