G. & F. Cope

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G. & F. Cope Ltd, originally W. & G. Cope, was a Nottingham clockmaking firm from 1855 to 1984. Brothers William Cope and George Cope started the business in 1855 in Radford, Nottingham, later moving in 1860 to Hounds Gate with steam power and planing machinery. The partnership split in 1875, and George kept the business, soon forming a new partnership with his brother Francis Frederick Cope, creating G. & F. Cope by 1876. William ran his own company until his death in 1893. In 1879 the Cope firm took over Reuben Bosworth’s Nottingham business.

The company was later joined by their nephew William Cope (1867–1922), son of Alfred Cope. He became owner in 1899 and introduced electric motors and even had a telephone in his office. When William died in 1922, his 20-year-old son William Waller Cope (1902–1985) took charge, followed by his two sons, Richard Cope and William David Cope.

G. & F. Cope made many public clocks in Nottingham and beyond, and also produced chronometers for the Admiralty, as well as tower clocks and chimes. The factory was first on Holden Street, with offices on Gregory Street and then Alfreton Road. In 1937 they moved to Portland Road, and in 1945 to Prospect Place in Lenton, where the firm stayed until it was absorbed by Smith of Derby Group in 1984.