Nobel's Explosives Co Ltd of 195 West George Street, Glasgow
1871 Company established as the British Dynamite Co. Ltd by Alfred Nobel, a Mr. Downie, and Messrs. Webb and Co
1877 Company reconstructed as Nobel's Explosives Co Ltd.
1886 The Nobel-Dynamite Trust Co was formed in London, merging Nobel's German company and Nobel's Explosives Co Ltd. This company bound together some of Nobel's companies by cross-shareholdings, profit pooling, and market-sharing agreements. Another holding company was formed later to bring together the others.
1897 Started to make and supply cordite to the War Office[1]
1900 The Nobel's Explosives Company Ltd was registered on 27 December, to take over the properties of a company of the same name. [2]
1914 Manufacturers of all kinds of blasting explosives and chemicals, military and sporting powders, guncotton, picric acid, detonators, safety and electric fuses and blasting accessories. [3]
WWI: The Nobel–Dynamite Trust was broken up at the outbreak of war. Harry McGowan (1874–1961), a manager who had spent his career with Nobel's Explosives, used the opportunity to engineer a merger of almost the whole of the British explosives industry.
Established TNT factory at Pembrey, South Wales; later taken over by the government and closed after the war.
1918 Explosives Trades Ltd was formed to merge together the UK explosives industry including Nobel's Explosives, Kynoch, Curtis's and Harvey, Eley, Kings Norton Metal Co and Birmingham Metal and Munitions Co.
1920 Renamed Nobel Industries, to reflect the widening of its industrial interests. [4]
1924 The main business was in making blasting explosives; next most important was the metals business which included ammunition, the Sunbeam cycle and motor-cycle business, Amac carburettors, and Rotax motor accessories; in addition there were various industrial holdings[5].
1926 Formation of Imperial Chemical Industries. Nobel Industries continued as the ICI Nobel division of the company.
1932 Incorporated in the new ICI (Explosives) which would include 11 companies controlled by ICI[6].
1971 Nobel's Explosives Co Ltd was incorporated, a subsidiary of ICI; headquarters at Stevenston, Ayrshire.
2002 The manufacturing businesses were sold to Troon Investments Ltd; the name of the company was changed to Stevenston Holdings. Troon was acquired by Inabata UK.
2005 Inabata UK Ltd sold Nobel Energetics Limited (aka Troon Investments) to Chemring Group.
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ The Times, Jul 20, 1910
- ↑ The Stock Exchange Year Book 1908
- ↑ 1914 Whitakers Red Book
- ↑ The Engineer 1920/12/31, p 657.
- ↑ The Times 20 September 1924
- ↑ The Times, 7 April 1932