Highams Park - Halex and Tesco

Halex and Tesco

The Halex factory was situated on Larkshall Road, it was a major local employer from 1897-1971. The factory produced a variety of goods mostly from plastic. The Halex company had a virtual monopoly on manufacturing table tennis balls. The factory closed in the early 1970s and has since been knocked down and replaced by new smaller factories and industrial buildings. A blue plaque on Jubilee Avenue marks the spot where the building stood; it reads "Plastics Historical Society. On this site, from 1897-1971, stood the Halex factory of the British Xylonite Company."

Some of the land in this area is now owned by supermarket chain Tesco who were initially refused permission to build a store on the site in June 2007 by then Local Government Secretary Ruth Kelly after a protracted process of planning applications dating back to early 2005. The reasons cited for the refusal involved the size of the proposed store and the building not being in keeping with local Victorian and Edwardian buildings. However in 2009 a revised planning application was passed despite the efforts of some local residents to stop this from happening.

A recent campaign seeks to honour the men of Highams Park that worked in the Halex Factory and gave their lives in both world wars; and return the war memorial to the original site.