Birmingham Screwdriver Company building, Digbeth

Image: © A J Paxton Taken: 22 Mar 2022

The factory of the former Birmingham Screwdriver Company is now advertised as studio and office space, while Katjes (Katjes Fassin UK) make confectionery and other specialised products using 3-D printing in their 'magic candy factory' https://digbeth.com/directory/katjes-fassin-uk-1 , all of which reflects the shift away from metal trades to 'creative industries' in this part of town. The preserved ghost sign with its arm and hammer recall the crest on the Birmingham coat of arms Image The building stands at the corner of Floodgate Street and Little Ann Street. This Historic England e-publication on Digbeth & Deritend https://historicengland.org.uk/research/results/reports/7279/DigbethandDeritendBirminghamWestMidlands_OutlineHistoricAreaAssessment shows, however, on p93, a photo of this building taken in 2017 with no evidence of the 'ghost sign', which suggests that it is a recent postmodern joke, 'Birmingham screwdriver' as a humorous term for a hammer. Historic England describe the building on p94 as the number 4 works of the W.J. Wild component manufacture factory, erected between 1955 and 1967. It appears to have been a metal pressing factory, so the comments above about change of use still stand.

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