The company received financial backing from the coal magnate Earl Fitzwilliam. The first few cars were called Brotherhoods and were a continuation of the Brotherhood-Crocker cars made in London in which Earl Fitzwilliam had been an investor. Brotherhood sold the London site in 1905 and moved to Peterborough, but could not get permission to build a car factory so the Earl suggested a move to Sheffield where he built a new factory in Tinsley.