In about 1885 a William Pitt took possession of a plot of land in Moor Street, built a small factory and proceeded to make nails. He appears only once in the Coventry trade directories, for 1886, and why he chose Earlsdon remains a mystery. That it was a bad choice is clear from the minutes of the Coventry Rural Sanitary Authority of 20 July 1887: a letter was read respecting a notice served on Mr Pitt to abate a smoke nuisance, with John Hulme of Clarendon Street acting as spokesman for the residents. The chimney was too short, and on Mondays when the local ladies hung out their washing, it was covered in black smuts. Pitt left the area shortly after.
In 1890 a young man named Fred Allard, a professional cycle rider drawn to Coventry from Northampton by the booming cycle industry, saw the ideal premises at 38 Moor Street. The Allard Cycle Company enjoyed good success, and Fred obtained steel tubing from a Birmingham firm, Tubes Ltd, whose managing director William Pilkington took an interest in young Allard’s potential and joined him. Together they developed their cycles until small engines were added to the frames, producing the first Allard motorcycle in 1899.
In 1902, Allard Cycle Co was formally merged with Pilkington’s Birmingham Motor Manufacturing Co, and the joint venture became the Rex. Production had outstripped the old nail factory, and Pilkington moved to larger premises in Osborne Road, the new Earlsdon Works. The Moor Street factory then housed a succession of businesses in cycle and motor trades. In 2011 the empty factory was purchased and transformed into office space and residential accommodation.