 In 1906 he became a director of Birmingham Small Arms Company, the arms manufacturer which also grew into a leading motorcycle company.In 1908 he became a director of W & T Avery Ltd., manufacturers of weighing equipment.He became a J. P. in 1909 and his interests diversified into railways with directorship of Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway from 1909 to 1912, the Metropolitan Railway from 1915 to 1933, London, Brighton and South Coast Railway from 1918 to 1922 and then the Southern Railway until 1938.