Here is some info for you Pluck.
http://www.seriouswheels.com/art-Ford-Europe.htm
I got the year wrong, it was 1931
The basis of the strategy was the centralization of Ford�s European activities in England and the formation of a new company, Ford Motor Company Limited to serve this purpose. At the heart of the �1928 Plan� was a new factory - �the Detroit of Europe� - to be built on reclaimed marshland at Dagenham in the UK, as the hub of Ford�s European activities. Built at the then immense cost of �5 million, the new Dagenham plant built its first vehicle, a Model AA truck, on 1 October 1931.