Grace's Guide

1957.

1957.

of 145 Saint Vincent Street, Glasgow (1935)

1920 William Edward Evans gained a patent (presumably on a method of production of oxygen)

Began business as ship breakers, marine salvage, metal merchants and refiners in Charlestown, Fife.

1922 Company formed as Alloa Shipbreaking Co.

1926 Acquired Rosyth Shipbreaking Co, of HM Dockyard, Rosyth

1929 Company name changed to Metal Industries.

1932 Disposed of Oxygen Industries Ltd to British Oxygen Co Ltd in exchange for shares.

1933 Acquired marine salvage undertaking at Scapa Flow of Cox and Danks

1935 Became a public company - metal merchants, metal refiners, ship breakers, and ship salvers at H.M. Dockyard Rosyth and Charlestown, Fife and Scapa Flow.

1935 Application with British Oxygen Co and others to extend Weaver's patent

1937 Metal merchants.

1943 Acquired Electrical Switchgear and Associated Manufacturers Ltd, which owned Brookhirst Switchgear Ltd; also acquired Igranic Electric Co of Bedford; had increased shareholding in Sentinel Waggon Works (1936) Ltd.

Postwar: acquired facilities at Faslane Port.

1947 Company was operating in three main areas:

• Metal Industries (Salvage) Ltd
• Metal Industries (Electrical Group) Ltd -
  • Igranic Electric Co,
  • Electrical Switchgear and Associated Manufacturers,
  • Brookhirst Switchgear,
  • Cantie Switches
• Sentinel (Shrewsbury) Ltd

1948 Acquired Fawcett, Preston and Co

1949 Acquired Cox and Danks

1952 Acquired the rest of the capital of John Allan and Co (Glenpark)

1954/5 Acquired Finney Presses which would complement the presses business of Fawcett Preston; took over the business of unbreakable resistors of the Rheostatic Co which was put into Fawcett Preston.

1956 Addressed poor profitability by selling Sentinel and curtailment of the activities of 2 electrical subsidiaries - Brookhirst Switchgear and Cantie Switches. Other subsidiaries included:

• Shipbreaking Industries
• Hughes Bolckow Shipbreaking Co of Blyth
• Metal Industries (Salvage)
• Cox and Danks
• John Allan and Co of Glasgow and Oldbury
• Igranic Electric Co
• Fawcett, Preston and Co of Bromborough
• Finney Presses of Birmingham
• Ferrous Castings of Warrington
• Metind Ltd, which had been closed

Substantial management and organisation changes were made in the electrical division. Redirection of the mechanical engineering businesses away from sub-contract work

1958 Acquired Farmer Brothers (Shifnal), constructers of steelwork. Integrated its long established subsidiaries Brookhirst Switchgear Ltd and Igranic Electric Co Ltd into Brookhirst Igranic Ltd.

1959 Acquired Towler Brothers (Patents) including its subsidiary Electraulic Presses.

1959 Metal Industries Ltd acquired Avo Ltd, including its subsidiary Taylor Electrical Instruments Ltd

1960 Acquired Lancashire Dynamo Holdings Ltd which doubled the size of the group; rights issue to pay for the acquisition. Total of 38 subsidiaries. Towler Brothers was working with Brookhirst on a joint development.

1961 Had 24 subsidiaries manufacturing. Employs 12,000 persons.

1967 As part of a programme of focussing on strategic assets, disposed of J. G. Statter and Co, switchgear makers to English Electric Co, and Fawcett, Preston and Co, rubber and plastic extrusion machinery makers.

1967 Thorn Electrical Industries acquired Metal Industries after a contentious battle with Aberdare Holdings. This included Lancashire Dynamo Electronic Products which was later renamed Thorn Automation. Associated with the deal was the acquistion by AEI of Lancashire Dynamo and Crypto

Acquisition by Thorn Electrical Industries would secure sheet metal supplies for Thorn's domestic appliance business

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