Some businesses survive by staying the same. Walker Rubber has survived and thrived by doing the opposite. Over more than 85 years, the company has reinvented itself again and again, moving from shoe machinery repairs to light engineering, from rubber factoring to precision extrusion manufacturing. Through decades of change, one thing has remained constant: the determination to keep pace with the world, and to keep delivering for customers.
1941: Where It All Began
The business was founded in 1941 by James Walker, in the midst of the Second World War. James had been a manager at Ralph's Shoe Machining Co. Ltd., based on Pitt Street in Norwich. When that company closed in the early years of the war, James seized the opportunity to buy the business and reopen it on the same site under his own name: Jas Walker Ltd.
Norwich was, at the time, a significant centre for shoe manufacturing. The city's boot-making trade was actively supplying the armed forces, and James's new company found its purpose servicing and repairing the machinery that kept that production running. The business also supported Norwich's thriving printing industry, maintaining the equipment on which the city's printers depended.
It was a modest beginning. In its very first year of trading, the business recorded a turnover of just £1,026 and made a small profit. Those original accounts, still preserved today, are a remarkable piece of the company's history.
1952-1962: Basil Walker Takes the Helm
James Walker passed away in 1952, and leadership of the company passed to his son, Basil. Continuing to trade as a light engineering firm, Basil renamed the business Walker Engineering Co. (Norwich) Ltd. and kept the company focused on the precision repair and maintenance work his father had established.
By the late 1950s and early 1960s, however, the landscape for British engineering was shifting. Increased competition from global manufacturers were entering the market in force, undercutting domestic firms and squeezing margins across the sector. Basil recognised that the company needed to evolve.
In 1962, Walker Engineering made its first major pivot: diversifying into the factoring of rubber and plastic goods. It was a shrewd move – rubber and plastics were a growing industrial category, and the opportunity to carve out a specialist niche was clear. Gradually, over the years that followed, the engineering side of the business gave way to this new direction.
In 1970, the company moved to the opposite side of Pitt Street and marked the shift in identity with a new name: Walker Engineering and Rubber Co. (Norwich) Ltd.
1977-1988: Growth, Expansion, and Manufacturing
The late 1970s brought further expansion. In 1977, the company established a dedicated rubber and plastics factoring division in Ipswich, Walker Rubber and Plastics Ltd., extending its reach across East Anglia and serving the region's growing agricultural, industrial, and commercial customer base.
Basil's son, Keith Walker, had joined the business in the early 1960s and was by now playing an increasingly central role. In 1985, Keith oversaw one of the most significant developments in the company's history: the move into the manufacturing of rubber extrusions and mouldings. This was not simply an addition to the product range – it was a transformation of what Walker's fundamentally was. Where the business had previously sourced and supplied rubber and plastic goods, it was now making them.
The new manufacturing equipment required more space than the existing premises could provide. In 1986, the rubber and plastics sales operation relocated to Hellesdon Park Road, and the company was renamed Walker Rubber and Plastics (Mfg) Ltd.
Basil Walker retired in 1988, and Keith became Managing Director — inheriting a business that now spanned multiple sites and was producing rubber products in-house for the first time.
1995-2002: Coming Together Under One Roof
The 1990s were a period of consolidation. In 1995, the various divisions of the business were brought together under a single, unified name: Walker Rubber and Plastics Ltd. Two years later, in 1997, Keith Walker fulfilled a long-held ambition when the company moved into its own purpose-built premises on Sweet Briar Industrial Estate – a modern facility that finally brought all operations under one roof.
The new building was more than a practical upgrade. It represented the culmination of decades of growth and a genuine statement of intent for the future.
2002: The Fourth Generation
On 1st March 2002, the fourth generation of the Walker family joined the business when Keith retired in May 2002, handing the reins to his children as Joint Managing Directors. Lorraine and Clive Walker, Keith's daughter and son, brought with them complementary skills and fresh perspectives. Clive's background was in materials science and aerospace engineering; Lorraine brought experience from the financial services sector.
The transition coincided with a period of real commercial challenge. Raw material prices were rising sharply due to worldwide demand, and the growth of internet retail was beginning to transform customer expectations and disrupt the traditional trade counter model that regional industrial suppliers had long relied upon. Under Lorraine and Clive's leadership, Walker Rubber responded by focusing more firmly on its core strength: manufacturing to order.
The results were impressive. Turnover grew from £1.2m in 2002 to nearly £2m over the years that followed, and the company continued to serve an increasingly diverse range of sectors – from automotive, marine, and industrial customers to food processing, equestrianism, and construction.
This period also brought important operational changes. The business consolidated its operations back to Norwich and invested in digital manufacturing technology, including CNC cutting equipment, that significantly improved efficiency and capability. The integrated, open-plan manufacturing environment that exists at Walker Rubber today is a direct product of those changes, enabling a skilled, close-knit team to deliver more than ever before.
By 2012, Walker Rubber was marking 70 years in business. Reflecting on that milestone, Lorraine and Clive noted that despite the many changes in name, location and focus over the decades, it was effectively the same company their great-grandfather had started in 1941 – one that had traded continuously every year since.
2020: A New Chapter
In 2020, Ivan Browne acquired Walker Rubber, bringing a new chapter to the company's long story. Ivan had worked closely with the business in the years prior, developing a thorough understanding of its operations, its people, and its potential.
Under Ivan's leadership, Walker Rubber has sharpened its identity as a specialist in precision rubber extrusions, with a clear mission to make the process as fast, straightforward, and reliable as possible for customers. Same-day quoting, lead times from as little as 48 hours, no minimum order quantities, and in-house tooling capability are now the hallmarks of what the business offers.
In 2025, Ivan completed the purchase of the Sweet Briar Industrial Estate building – securing the company's long-term home and marking another milestone in a story that shows no sign of standing still.
85 Years On
Walker Rubber Limited, as it is now named, has now been trading continuously for over 85 years. The faces have changed, the products have evolved, and the markets served have expanded far beyond anything James Walker could have imagined when he reopened a shoe machinery business in wartime Norwich.
But the fundamentals – quality, responsiveness, and a genuine commitment to solving the problems customers bring through the door – are exactly the same.
The Walker Rubber Timeline
