George Brough

Early life George was the second son of Brick Presser, Colliery Electric Bell fitter and later motorcycle pioneer William Edward Brough and was born at 10 Mandalay Street, Basford, Nottingham on 21 April 1890.

3,048 motorcycles of 19 models were made in 21 years of production. Most were custom-built to customers' requirements, and rarely did any two have the same configurations. Each motorcycle was assembled twice. The first assembly was for fitting of all components, then the motorcycle was disassembled, and all parts were painted or plated as needed, then the finished parts were given the final assembly. Every motorcycle was test-ridden to ensure that it performed to specification and was certified by George Brough. The SS100 model was ridden at 100 mph or more prior to delivery. The SS80 model was ridden at or more before delivery. If any motorcycle did not meet specification, it returned to the shop for rework until it performed properly.

In 1929 an SS100 was purchased by Sir William Lyons who two years later applied the same name to his own first four-wheeled vehicle, much to Brough's disgruntlement at the time, though the two later became close friends. "S" and "S" were the first two initials of the Swallow Sidecar Company which Lyons had co-founded back in 1923.

In 1940, the Second World War brought an end to production as the factory was turned over to produce Rolls-Royce Merlin aeroengines. After hostilities had ceased there were no suitable engines available, so the company was wound up.