Adwest Group
Automotive, electrical, agricultural and industrial engineers, of Reading
1964 Adamant and Western Engineering Group changed its name to Adwest Group[1]. One of the subsidiary companies was Adwest Engineering
1964 Joint Venture with Bell's Asbestos and Engineering (Holding) to manufacture and sell excavating equipment and Shawnee-Poole dumpers in South Africa; the equipment would be made by Adwest's subsidiary Steelfab[2]
1966 Acquired G. W. B. (Furnaces) Ltd of Dudley[3].
1968 Acquired Field and Grant of Birmingham, makers of motor control gear; also owned J. T. Wade and Son, Zone Controls,Woof and Sabine and Designs and Installations [4].
1969 Acquired Bowden (Holdings)[5].
1970 Bid for Gascoigne Group, makers of milking machinery[6], but called off the bid in February[7]. Counter-bid for Carrier Engineering Co[8] was unsuccessful.
1975 Acquired Sealed Motor Construction Co[9].
1978 Acquired Burman and Sons, the steering gear part of Duport, which would mean that Adwest had 25% of the British market for such gear[10]. Also acquired 80% of Anciens Etablissements Bowden, a French private company specialised in flexible controls which was closely associated with Adwest's Bowden subsidiary[11]
1980 Slight drop in profits upset Adwest's long-term record of growth[12].
1981 Acquired pump and pneumatic equipment makers Lacy-Hulbert and Co
1982 The growth in the property development side of the business was offsetting the drop in the engineering businesses[13].
1984 Acquired Warwick Pump and Engineering Co[14]
1985 Acquired 3 defence subsidiaries from Oceonics Group[15]
1986 Major reduction in staffing at Burman due to fall in demand for its products and delivery problems[16].
1988 Acquired Abbott Transistor Laboratories, a Californian defence equipment company[17].
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ The Times 16 October 1964
- ↑ The Times 27 April 1964
- ↑ The Times 31 May 1966
- ↑ The Times 2 November 1968
- ↑ The Times 3 April 1969
- ↑ The Times 9 January 1970
- ↑ The Times 2 July 1970
- ↑ The Times 19 August 1970
- ↑ The Times 15 July 1975
- ↑ The Times 27 June 1978
- ↑ The Times 2 August 1978
- ↑ The Times 30 September 1980
- ↑ The Times 15 October 1982
- ↑ The Times 24 June 1984
- ↑ The Times 28 November 1985
- ↑ The Times 30 September 1986
- ↑ The Times 3 November 1989