Greengate and Irwell Rubber Co
of Greengate Works, Salford, Manchester
1867 Isidor Frankenburg and Sons was established as rubber proofing business
1880s The Greengate and Irwell Rubber Co, Stephenson Street, Canning Town, originated in the 1880s.
1882–6 The Irwell (later Salford and Irwell) India Rubber and Gutta Percha Works Ltd had premises at the Royal Albert Dock.
In or before 1904 it merged with the Eastern Rubber Co, Tidal Basin, first listed in directories in 1886, to form the Irwell and Eastern Rubber Co.
1914 It is not known how far these firms made, rather than sold, rubber before 1914, but in that year the Irwell and Eastern Rubber Co built a factory in Stephenson Street.
1919 Public company. Greengate and Irwell Rubber Co Ltd was formed by the amalgamation of two companies, with factories at Manchester, Radcliffe, London and Glasgow, including acquisition of the Frankenburg business. Greengate mainly produced rubber belting and tubing, V-ropes, hose, cables, proofed fabrics and clothing. Rubber footwear represented only a small proportion of its sales in the United Kingdom.
1921 Irwell and Eastern merged with I. Frankenburg and Sons of Salford, Lancashire, to form the Greengate and Irwell Rubber Co.
1937 Advert in British Industries Fair Catalogue as Maker of C. M. A. (Cable Makers' Association) Cables. Manufacturers of electric Wires and Cables for all purposes. (Electricity: Industrial and Domestic Section - Stand Nos. Cb.501 and Cb.400)
WWII. The firm lost its Canning Town works by bombing in the Second World War and afterwards retained only a small depot there.
1953 Public company - quotation on London Stock Exchange
1961 Manufacturers of plastic rubber and balata** conveyor and transmission belting, moulded and mechanical plastic and rubber goods, industrial hose for all purposes, rubber flooring, latex thread, outerwear and protective clothing, plastic and rubber speciality proofed cloths for industrial purposes, printers' blankets, rubber footwear, card cloth and plastic and rubber insulated cables. 2,500 employees.
1967 Greengate and Irwell was acquired by Slater, Walker Securities.[1]
1970 The Allied Polymer Group Ltd was incorporated
1971 Allied Polymer acquired the company[2] including its subsidiaries in industrial polymers, cables (Greengate Cables), coatings, protective clothing (Glyn Protective Clothing Ltd and A. and E. Bye Ltd), inflatable boats (Beaufort (Air-Sea) Equipment Ltd).
- Note: **
- Balata - the gum of the bullet- or bully-tree of South America, used as a substitute for rubber and gutta-percha (a substance like, but harder and less extensible than, rubber).
See Also
Sources of Information
- [1] British History Online - West Ham Industries
- [2] Competition Commission
- 1937 British Industries Fair Advert p564; and p370
- 1961 Dun and Bradstreet KBE
- Chambers English Dictionary