H.R. Owen PLC

Harold Rolfe Owen was a man with a vision, a vision which continues today. He was always a risk taker, at the age of 18 he was badly injured when his plane crashed during World War I. Soon after his introduction to the motor industry (with Jack Barclay), he established his own business in Mayfair. In six short years, the name H.R. Owen was synonymous with Rolls-Royce and Bentley. The outbreak of World War II saw H.R. Owen and, indeed, the British motor industry itself, grind to a halt. Owen, himself, died in 1940 when tank manoeuvres aggravated his old injuries. It took another risk taker, Yorkshireman Fritz Swain to rekindle the business and keeping the original name, he reopened in Berkeley Street with just 40 cars. Post-war regeneration and the rise of the entrepreneur saw the company flourish. The past 30 years or so has seen new marques added and changes of ownership and the H.R. Owen name goes from strength to strength.