After World War II, Clayton Equipment Ltd experienced significant growth as it acted as a subcontractor of International Combustion, constructing various products such as farming equipment and industrial conveyors in response to a post-War shortage. The expansion necessitated the acquisition of new premises Record Works in Hatton, Derbyshire, and in 1957, Clayton Equipment was acquired by International Combustion Ltd.
British Railways, as part of its dieselisation scheme, contracted Clayton Equipment Ltd to supply eighty-eight diesel-electric locomotives (what would later be known as the Class 17), and other orders were fulfilled for international customers from nations as diverse as Australia, Korea, Cuba and Poland. A £5 million contract by British Railways for 88 mainline diesel electric locomotives followed during the same year, supplemented by 1.75 million order for ten 2,500 hp (1,900 kW) models that were exported to Cuba was obtained whilst, at the time, the company sales, particularly of mining and tunnelling locomotives, which were primarily for the export market, also continued to rise. The Cuban locomotives were based on the Brush Type 4 locomotives also been built at the same time.
In 1962, a decision was made by the National Coal Board (NCB) that all pit ponies were to be removed from mines in the United Kingdom. The NCB expressed an interest in using small locomotives to help remove material from their pits. Clayton Equipment supplied a number of these machines which were put into service, before being asked to develop a locomotive that could negotiate steeper gradients.
Devlin retired from the company in 1965. After a number of changes of ownership at higher levels, during which time Clayton Equipment Ltd established itself as a market leader in underground rail haulage solutions. International Combustion was acquired by Clarke Chapman of Gateshead in 1974 and in 1979 Clarke Chapman merged with Reyrolle Parsons of Newcastle, manufacturer of large steam turbines for power stations, etc., to form a new company called Northern Engineering Industries.
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Ten years later, Northern Engineering Industries (NEI) was acquired by Rolls-Royce as part of a strategy to diversify its product line into industrial power, and Clayton Equipment became a part of the Rolls-Royce Industrial Power Group in 1989. In 1994 Rolls-Royce plc divested itself of the remaining companies within the Northern Engineering Industries Mining Equipment Group, retaining only Clayton Equipment. Consequently, the company was put under the control of Rolls-Royce Materials Handling based at Gateshead and then later Rolls-Royce Industrial Businesses in Derby. It nonetheless retained a significant measure of autonomy, and in March 2005, it became an independent company again.
On 25 November 2025, Clayton Equipment filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators, which gave the business around 10 days of protection from creditor action while its future is considered. However, in January 2026, the firm and its assets were acquired by engineering company Clarke Chapman.
