Grace's Guide

British Industrial History

BICC

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March 1946.
March 1946.
January 1952.
January 1952.

British Insulated Callender's Cables (BICC) was a 20th century British cable manufacturer and construction company which originated in two 19th century pioneer electric cable companies - Callenders of Erith, formed in 1882, which later became Callenders Cable and Construction Co, and British Insulated Wire Co, formed in 1890. Now renamed after its former subsidiary Balfour Beatty.

  • 1870 Company founded (according to DnB)
  • 1945 British Insulated Callender's Cables was a public company formed by the merger of two long established cable firms, Callender's Cable and Construction Co and British Insulated Cables. Subsidiaries could could trace their roots back to submarine cable manufacturing on the Thames in the 1850s. Sir Alexander Roger was the first Chairman, followed by his financial manager, William McFadzean.
  • Constituent companies of British Insulated Callender's Cables played significant roles in construction of the British National Grid in the 1930s. Callender's for example constructed the 132kV crossing of the Thames at Dagenham with overhead cables spanning 3060 feet (932m) between two 487ft (148m) towers, and allowing 250ft (76m) clearance for shipping. Companies including Glovers at Trafford Park and Callender's at Erith contributed to manufacturing the PLUTO pipeline system. Other companies merged or taken over included Anchor Cable Co of Leigh, and Balfour, Beatty and Co, Civil Engineers [1].
  • 1959 British Insulated Callender's Cables (BICC) acquired the Greenwich firm of Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Co (Telcon), a company formed to lay the first cable across the Atlantic in 1864, and in so doing acquired 50% of Submarine Cables Ltd. From that date much of the submarine cable work was undertaken by Submarine Cables Ltd whilst other departments, such as power cables, were absorbed by BICC. Another section which was transferred to Submarine Cables was that which manufactured and installed cable laying equipment on cable ships.
  • 1961 Employed 15,000 persons. Main works at Erith, Helsby, Huyton Quarry, Leigh, Melling and Prescot.
  • 1975 The company was renamed BICC Ltd. The operating divisions were
    • BICC Cables Ltd (BICC Cables)
    • BICC Industrial Products Ltd
    • BICC International Ltd
    • Balfour, Beatty and Co Ltd (which became Balfour Beatty Ltd)
  • By the 1970s the firm had works at Erith, Prescot, Kirkby, Leyton, Helsby, Leigh, Melling, Wrexham, Blackley and Belfast, making electric power cables, telecommunications cables and metals. BICC's (originally Callender's) research and engineering laboratories at a former power station site in White City, London was close to Ormiston House, William Ormiston Callender's house of the 1870s.
  • In 1999 the ailing BICC sold its optical cables business to Corning and power cables businesses to General Cable Corporation, which subsequently sold on parts to Pirelli.
  • Closure of part the Erith works by Pirelli was announced in 2002, with production of oil-filled cable transferred to their Eastleigh works in Hampshire.
  • Pirelli subsequently sold off their cable operations, now known as Prysmian.
  • BICC also owned construction company Balfour Beatty, and following sale of the cable operations the remaining company was renamed as Balfour Beatty in 2000.
  • 1968 Queen's Award to Industry for Export Achievement
  • 1968 Supplied busbar installations for the Winfrith power station


See Also

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Sources of Information

  1. ↑ BICC - Introduction from Archives Department, National Museums Liverpool
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