Scott Bader and Co
of 109 Kingsway, London, WC2. Telephone: Holborn 3691. Cables: "Eredabott, Westcent, London". Works: Wollaston, near Wellingborough, Northants
1890 Ernest Bader was born of a Swiss farming family. He was the youngest of 7 children.
1904 By the age of 14, economic necessity forced him to work as a clerical apprentice in a silk factory. Restless, ambitious and always enterprising, he tired of the limited prospects before him.
Deeply convinced of the basic truths of Christian teaching, he later became a pacifist and this is reflected in the constitution of Scott Bader Co. Ernest was to work hard for world peace and social justice throughout his life.
In 1912, he travelled to London to seek his fortune. He married an English girl, Dora Scott, and became a nationalized British citizen at the earliest opportunity.
1920 founded a company E. Bader and became the sole agent for a Swiss manufacturer of celluloid.
1921 An office was opened in Finsbury Square, in the City of London, under the name of Scott Bader and Co (incorporating his wife's maiden name with his own). Cellulloid in all its shapes and forms was sold, and slowly the firm began to develop.
1922 Ernest became the English agent to a German firm who made the first low viscosity nitrocellulose - a product which revolutionized the painting of vehicle bodies.
By 1932 Scott Bader had moved into manufacturing in the East End of London with offices in Kingsway, WC2.
1940 As war spread across Europe and the bombing started in London, it was decided to find a new site in the country, away from the heavily bombed East End of London. A beautiful manor house set in 44 acres of parkland was found at Wollaston, Northamptonshire, and became the new and lasting home of the company.
1945 A number of sole UK licences were secured from America. The prime one being for the then new unsaturated polyester resin, which 'Scott Bader introduced to the European markets.
Scott Bader chemists developed the first cold cure system for these products enabling the foundation of the glass reinforced polyester industry. The sale and development of these resins and related products, alongside polymers for surface coatings, textiles and adhesives, is still a major part of Scott Bader's business.
1947 Listed Exhibitor - British Industries Fair. Manufacturers of "Crestanol" Phenolic and Maleic Resins, "Texyn" Alkyd Resins, "Marco" Low Pressure Resins, "Nuodex" Naphthenate Driers and Fungicides, "Texipol" Acrylic and other synthetic Resin Emulsions, "Bytuco" Paste Pigments, Rubber Dispersions. (Olympia, Ground Floor, Stand No. A.1092) [1]
1948 A large resin facility was completed, and the development laboratories were further enlarged. Of particular importance during this period was the export trade which accounted for over 30 per cent of the gross turnover. The development of a network of licensees around the world was also significant.
Ernest had strong social beliefs and recognised that a world where capital employs labour was not sustainable. He believed labour should employ capital acknowledging the equality of everyone as individuals. He believed only a total restructure of the way industry was managed would bring this about.
1951 Ernest and the other shareholders made a radical decision - to gift the company to its employees, present and future. A charitable trust, The Scott Bader Commonwealth Limited, holds the shares of Scott Bader Company Limited, in perpetuity.
Scott Bader Company Limited is one organisation made up of two inseparable parts — Scott Bader Commonwealth and Scott Bader Company. The former holds shares of Scott Bader Company to provide trustee status and collective ownership of the former family owned company and is both a charity and membership organisation; the latter is the operating company, the employees of which are eligible for membership of the Commonwealth. Membership entitles the employee to participate in the direction of the company's activities by exercising the voting rights of the shares in addition to being involved in the democratic governance bodies.
1950s During this decade, Scott Bader achieved a number of industry firsts including resins with the brand name Crystic specially formulated for boat construction and the use of use marine grade resins for the construction of Perpetua, at that time the largest composite boat in the world - measuring 14.8 tonnes.
1960s The firm took great strides forward as Scott Bader became recognized as the leading manufacturer of polyester resins for glass reinforced plastics.
1966 production commenced at Amiens, in France, originally a joint venture operation with Sturge SA, but eventually this became a wholly owned subsidiary called Scott Bader S.A.
Scott Bader wwas involved in the first composite passenger carrying Hovercraft, HM2, built by Hovermarine.
1971 A major new research and development area was opened.
1975 Scott Bader received the Queen's Award to Industry for technical innovation in surface coatings.
1976 The Common Ownership Act was passed by Parliament, which recognized common ownership companies in law. The first certificate was awarded to Scott Bader Company Limited.
In this decade Scott Bader, with the acquisition of Strand Glassfibre Limited, became the first polyester resin manufacturer to offer resins, reinforcements and ancillary products to the composites industry from regional centres in Eire, France and the UK.The next acquisition came in 1982 when Synthetic Resins Limited was purchased from Unilever.
The 1980s saw Scott Bader offer the first weather-resistant, colour-durable resin and gelcoat system to meet the new stringent UK building fire regulations.
1982 Ernest Bader died aged 91, but the organisation he founded continued to grow and flourish.
1990s Scott Bader began to have a direct international involvement as distinct from working through licensees, with the acquisition of a Swedish distributor in 1992 to form Neidert Strand, (now Scott Bader Scandinavia). This internationalisation continued throughout the 1990s.
By 1999, the Scott Bader Group, of which Scott Bader Company Limited is a part, comprised:
- The Scott Bader Commonwealth Limited
- Scott Bader SA
- Scott Bader Composites EURL
- Scott Bader Scandinavia AB
- Scott Bader Middle East Limited
- Scott Bader (Proprietary)
- Scott Bader Inc
- Scott Bader Eastern Europe sro
- Chromos Tvornica Smola dd
See Also
- [1] Scott Bader History