LRC Products
of North Circular Road, London
1915 Lionel Alfred Jackson founded the London Rubber Company to sell barbers' sundries, including sheaths[1]
1932 Established a factory in Hackney to manufacture sheaths but continued to sell imported sheaths as well. It was also a distributor of rubber gloves and hot water bottles.
1934 Elarco Limited was formed as a private company to acquire the business of the London Rubber Company.
1939 the factory was moved to Chingford. The company had 50 percent of the UK market for sheaths, principally under the Durex brand.
Post WWII started making toy balloons, gloves, the centres of golf balls, fountain pen sacs, etc
1950 the London Rubber Company Limited was incorporated to acquire the business and assets of Elarco Limited and its associated companies.
1954 Acquired Selka Rubber Limited
1950s Acquired a number of companies concerned with other rubber products, such as gloves and balloons, and by the end of the 1950s was the principal British manufacturer of balloons as well as of sheaths and house gloves.
Early 1960s started to manufacture pre-sterilised disposable surgeons' gloves.
1961 Acquired J. Allen Rubber Co.[2], maker of Marigold gloves.
1961 the London Rubber Company Limited transferred its trading interests in rubber products to London Rubber Industries Limited.
1964 Started selling sheaths through vending machines by the acquisition of a vending machine manufacturer, Autonumis Limited, and an associated vending machine operating company, Menz Vending Limited, later re-named Tetbury Automats Limited. Other vending machine operators were later acquired.
1968 London Rubber Industries Limited changed its name to LR Industries Limited
1969 London Rubber Company Limited, the parent company, changed its name to LRC International Limited.
1971 Acquired Haffenden-Richborough.[3], maker of Duraplug electricals
1984 Acquired Royal Worcester Spode from Crystalate Holdings
1985 Became part of London International Group when LRC International changed its name; products included Marigold household gloves and Buttercup cough preparations[4]
See Also
Sources of Information
- https://londonrubbercompany.com/
- Jessica Borge, "Protective Practices: A History of the London Rubber Company and the Condom Business (McGill-Queen's University Press, 2020)