The business was started in 1893 by James Thomas Wiggin and James Enoch Wiggin in stables at the rear of the family home. By 1904 this had became too small and they moved to the local Salvation Army Mission on Revival Street, Bloxwich, the Mission was known locally as 'The Old Hall' and this name was to become their registered trade mark.  An advertisement dated 1916 lists the company activities in five categories :- 1) Bits, spurs, stirrups; 2) Buckles & Harness Mountings; 3) Light Chains & Spring Hooks; 4) Motor Fittings and 5) Brass & Iron Foundry and also as a contactor to the War Office. The product range saw a significant change during World War 1, the 1918 Directory of Manufacturing in Engineering and Allied Trades listed the companies 'War Work' to include 18 pound shrapnel shells, 6 inch howitzer chains & eyelets, aeroplane turn buckles, grenade split pins & rings and metal castings, employing 90 male and 200 female workers.

James Thomas Wiggin died six months before the end of the War, on the 14th April 1918 age 73, leaving £2,560 6s 7d and naming the co-founder of the company James Enoch Wiggin and William Wiggin as executors.

1928 saw major changes in the product range and a move away from their traditional market. Firstly a serious fire occurred which necessitated the factory being rebuilt.  Secondly, William Wiggin and his wife Nellie, received a number of silverware presents to celebrate their silver wedding anniversary and commented on the amount of cleaning required. These events, coupled with the search for new products, prompted a decision to diversify the product range and make 'easy clean tableware' from stainless steel for the mass market.

This change of direction resulted in production of the very first item of tableware manufactured from stainless steel, i.e. a small toast rack, followed in 1930 by the world's first stainless steel teapot. Three years later the making of Bits/Harness parts was discontinued.

During World War 2 Wiggins again switched to war time production and after the end of hostilities faced disruption and delay in reverting to the manufacture of tableware, made worse by shortages in the availability of stainless steel. New designs were developed and sales continued to grow, particularly the volume of exports.

Up to this time almost all designs were done by the family, that is until 1955 when Robert Welch joined as a Consultant Designer. Over the next ten years Robert's designs were to win three Design Council Awards for the company, i.e. a toast rack, a range of dishes and Alveston cutlery.  In the second half of the 1950s Old Hall won a substantial contract to supply tableware for the new P & O liner, Oriana for which Welch created a standard design, this was probably the largest single order the company ever received and was repeated each time the liner returned.

More design awards followed and by 1965 sales peaked at £1 million and coincided with the production of the millionth stainless teapot,  The company continued to grow via various acquisitions until 1970 when it was sold to The Prestige Group, then probably the largest manufacturer of housewares excluding North America. More new products were introduced, the range for in-flight 'dining' probably used by every major airline.

During the 1970s business suffered two major setbacks, a move into the American market failed, attributed to the dislike of domestic stainless steel tableware together with an influx of cheap imports from the Far East.

1982 saw another major event when Old Hall was sold by Prestige to Oneida, the objective being to add tableware to their product range. The changes were insufficient to save the company and after trading for 91 years the factory closed during June 1984, the main factors being, high production costs and high standards resulting in high sales prices (a story frequently heard in UK companies during that period!).

Oneida established a new factory in the Far East using Old Hall tooling, marking product 'Foreign Made' instead of  'Made In England', this was not a success and eventually production ceased.

The legacy left by James Thomas and James Enoch Wiggin is an ongoing world-wide interest in the Old Hall name and the high quality products which left the factory.