IN the not so distant past, Hereford was firmly on the map as air conditioning units made here were exported all over the world.

Denco will be most remembered for being based in Holmer Road in Hereford, where it grew into one of the city’s largest employers after forming in 1944.

Soon after Allan Miller joined Denco Holdings was created as a public listed company in 1960. With ongoing success, in 1962, the premise in Hereford UK doubled in size.

In 1968, the company became part of the William Press Group and in 1970 Den Colam handed his responsibilities to the capable Allan Miller. He took the company further again, but then in 1981 he also left for a much deserved retirement.

It was at this point when the name Denco Miller simply became Denco.

In 1982, the William Press Group merged with Leonard Fairclough and Sons to form a new company: AMEC PLC.

With continuing success the factory footprint was doubled again.

In 2000, the company performed a management buyout and uncoupled from AMEC PLC.

The company employed 250 staff when it was announced in 2003 that Denco would be leaving Holmer for the site alongside the A49 at Moreton-on-Lugg.

After other name changes it became DencoHappel in 2015 when redundancies were announced at the Hereford site.

In December 2015, human resource manager Claire Knight said a restructure had been implemented due to a “new strategy to refocus the manufacturing division of the global business”.

This resulting in manufacturing ceasing at the company’s Moreton-on-Lugg site.

Den Colam’s name lives on as air conditioning and IT cooling products having the ‘DENCO’ suffix, a reminder of the company’s origins.

People in the We Grew Up In Hereford Facebook group have mentioned Denco a number of times, including reminiscing about their time working there.

Leslie Walker said he started at Denco in 1961 and was paid £2.01 a week as he earned one shilling and eleven pence three farthings an hour.

Vicky Hancock said she remembered waiting at Hereford library in Broad Street when it had the huge revolving doors for her dad who was a draughtsman at Denco.

Do you have your own memories of Denco? Share them on Facebook by searching for We Grew Up In Hereford.