Holdens

Holdens: From factory floor to Festival finish line

Bromyard’s Motoring Heritage, Engineered by the Holden Family

It all began with aluminium and ambition.
In the 1970s, Holdens Pressings and later Holden Hydroman Ltd brought cutting-edge engineering to Bromyard. Originally founded by Bill Holden in Droitwich in the 1950s, the business relocated via Ross-on-Wye to the Station Road Industrial Estate at Bromyard, where it flourished for nearly 50 years. At its peak, the factory employed over 100 local people and became one of the town’s biggest employers.

From the fibreglass bodywork of Hinckley Triumphs to aluminium components for Aston Martin, Renault, and the Channel Tunnel, Holdens was at the forefront of British manufacturing. Known for expertise in hydro-forming, polyurethane moulding, and precision bending, the company’s work even reached GCHQ and the DeLorean project. In the 2000s, it became Holden Aluminium Technologies Ltd, later part of the global Hydro Aluminium Group, before finally closing its Bromyard doors in 2020 — but leaving behind a legacy of innovation, craftsmanship, and community.

Jeremy Holden and the Rise of Holden Vintage & Classic

While his father’s companies focused on modern manufacturing, Jeremy Holden channelled the family’s entrepreneurial spirit into the world of classic motoring. Born in 1956, Jeremy had a deep passion for vintage cars and automotive heritage. In 1988, he founded Holden Vintage & Classic – initially a small retailer of classic car parts and accessories – which he ran independently of the main Holden manufacturing business. The venture started modestly (originally based in Hartlebury), but its focus on quality and authenticity resonated with vintage vehicle enthusiasts.


By 1994, Jeremy relocated the company to Bromyard’s Linton Trading Estate, not far from the original Holden factories, and built a larger facility to accommodate growing operations. Over the next three decades, Holden Vintage & Classic flourished as a beloved hub for classic motoring: it supplied hard-to-find vintage car parts, period-style accessories, and even classic-inspired clothing, all curated with Jeremy’s keen eye for detail and authenticity. The business became a fixture of Bromyard’s “historic motoring town” identity. Jeremy’s interests helped shape the company’s trajectory – for instance, he was a lifelong fan of the local Morgan Motor Company (based in nearby Malvern) and in 2017 even opened an official Morgan car dealership and showroom as part of the Holden premises. By participating in classic car rallies and hosting community automotive events, Jeremy ensured that Holden Vintage & Classic was not just a store but an active part of Bromyard’s culture.


In October 2021, after 33 years at the helm, Jeremy sold Holden Vintage & Classic to the SNG Barratt Group (a leading classic Jaguar parts specialist) – a move aimed at securing the business’s future growth. He stepped back from day-to-day operations at that time, handing over management (to his daughter, Charlotte Holden) but successfully keeping the company in the family even under new ownership. This transition allowed Jeremy to pursue other ventures and community projects, while the Holden Vintage & Classic brand continued to thrive with an expanded global reach.

Jeremy Holden: A life at speed

Beyond business, Jeremy Holden was a driving force in celebrating Bromyard’s rich motoring heritage. He was one of the founding members of the Bromyard Speed Festival, a volunteer-organised classic motorsport festival that launched in the mid-2010s. This annual event,  first held in 2016, was created to showcase Bromyard’s automotive history and passion, with classic and vintage vehicles parading and racing through the town’s streets.


Jeremy joined the Board of the Bromyard Speed Festival Community Interest Company at its inception (becoming a director in August 2015) and remained deeply involved in the festival’s organisation and vision until his final days. Under his and his colleagues’ leadership, the festival grew into a major attraction, drawing thousands of enthusiasts and featuring everything from pre-war cars to modern supercars. However, as the event’s popularity and scale increased, practical challenges emerged – notably the spiralling costs of insurance and logistics for such an event on closed public roads in the town center. After a couple of successful years in Bromyard, the organisers made the tough decision to relocate the Speed Festival to the established Shelsley Walsh hill climb course (about 15 miles away) from 2018 onward, which offered a safer, controlled environment and lower insurance burden. Even in this “on tour” format at Shelsley Walsh, Bromyard Speed Festival continued under its original name and spirit, and Jeremy remained a key volunteer, helping run events and often exhibiting vehicles from the Holden collection.


One particularly special project Jeremy became involved in was the resurrection of the Vampire jet car, famously known as the vehicle in which Richard Hammond had a 288 mph crash in 2006 on Top Gear. In October 2019, Jeremy joined a small consortium of local automotive enthusiasts to acquire the derelict Vampire dragster and restore it to working order. Over hundreds of hours, the team (based in Bromyard) rebuilt Vampire’s chassis, engine, and body – an effort Jeremy was proud to support given his love of engineering and speed. By mid-2021, the jet car was fully restored and ready to run. Fittingly, Vampire’s first public appearance since the 2006 crash took place at the Bromyard Speed Festival event at Shelsley Walsh in August 2021.  The successful revival of Vampire – and its return to the public eye under the Bromyard Festival banner – stands as a testament to Jeremy Holden’s enthusiasm for keeping automotive history alive in spectacular fashion.

Jeremy Holden’s Legacy and the 2025 “Jeremy Holden Hill Climb”

Tragically, Jeremy Holden passed away on 25 June 2024, at the age of 67. His death was met with an outpouring of tributes from the community he had served so energetically. Jeremy was remembered not only as the founder of a beloved classic car business, but also as a generous community figurehead – a man equally at home rallying support for local events as he was piloting a vintage sports car. To honour his memory, the organisers of Bromyard Speed Festival have dedicated their upcoming event to him.

The 2025 festival is returning to Bromyard’s vicinity in a new format that Jeremy himself had been instrumental in conceptualising: a closed-road hill climb on a public road near the town. This event has been officially named the “Jeremy Holden Bromyard Hill Climb.” It will be a non-competitive celebratory hill climb (for road-legal classic cars and motorbikes) to be held on 27th July 2025 – serving as a heartfelt tribute to the man whose vision made the revival of a Bromyard-based speed event possible.


Jeremy’s legacy in Bromyard extends beyond motorsport. In the wake of his passing, his family (wife Victoria and children Charlotte and William) established the Jeremy Holden Memorial Fund to continue his ethos of community improvement. Managed by the Herefordshire Community Foundation, this fund supports initiatives to promote economic development and job opportunities in Bromyard, reflecting Jeremy’s lifelong commitment to the town’s prosperity. It’s a lasting way to remember a man who not only built successful enterprises but also tirelessly gave back to his hometown.


The 2025 Bromyard Speed Festival’s Jeremy Holden Hill Climb will be the highlight of that summer weekend, but Jeremy’s influence is felt year-round – from the Linton industrial estate where Holdens once provided work for many local families, to the vintage car meets where enthusiasts swap stories enabled by Holden parts, and on the very streets of Bromyard where a revived celebration of speed will take place in his name. Through these enduring contributions, Jeremy Holden’s memory rides on, interwoven with Bromyard’s past, present, and future.