Whessoe
of Darlington
1945 Formerly Whessoe Foundry and Engineering Co
1949 All types of gas plant[1]
1954 Building 2 nuclear reactor vessels for Calder Hall Power Station; finished a second wind tunnel for the National Aeronautical Establishment, Bedford[2].
1955 Joined the new Nuclear Power Plant Co[3].
1955-7 Installed a large upstroke press made by Fielding and Platt, with a maximum force of 4500 tons, to form steel plates for spherical pressure vessels, the first application being at the Dounreay Atomic Energy Establishment. Described in The Engineer, 31 January 1958[4]. See also here[5] for links to various articles and illustrations, including a film about the design and installation.
1959 Delivered the first liquid methane storage tank made from aluminium[6].
1961 Engineers, builders and designers of capital plant for oil, atomic power, gas and chemical industries. Manufacturers of marine gauges and "Telepulse" gauging systems. 1,500 employees.[7]
1961 Agreement with Selas Corporation of USA to licence oil heaters and other process units[8].
1962 Acquired Express Tools of Chessington[9]. Acquired the Stooperdale part of the Darlington railway works which was due for closure; this was adjacent to the company's main works[10].
1964 Purchased Universal Fabricators (Dublin) Ltd., which was established in 1949. The property taken over comprised the free hold works, and the plant and machinery on a 16-acre site in Dublin.[11]
1964 First British order received for a steam naptha reforming plant (for making town gas) using the ICI process which was licensed to Selas Corporation[12].
1966 Formed joint venture with William Press and Sons to provide engineering and maintenance services for the petro-chemical industries[13].
1967 Acquired Aiton and Co[14].
1968 Took over the metal fabrication part of the business of Ashmore, Benson, Pease and Co with help from the Industrial Reorganization Corporation[15].
1968 Contract from Badger for six chemical columns and reactor vessels for the heavy organic chemicals Division for the ICI North Tees works.[16]
1968 Acquired Malone Precision Tool[17].
1973 Sold the 3 companies in the precision engineering division: Express Tools, Morgan and Brace and Malone Precision Tool to Rodd Engineering Co of Shepperton[18].
1974 Whessoe Systems and Controls developed a gauge to measure the levels of liquefied gas, lpg and chemicals which was adaptable for both land and sea.[19]
1974 Made losses on fixed-price contracts for N Sea oil work.
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ [1] Historic England
- ↑ The Times, 7 July 1954
- ↑ The Times, 4 July 1955
- ↑ [2] Extract from The Engineer, 31 January 1958
- ↑ [3] Fielding & Platt history website: The Whessoe Story
- ↑ The Times, 22 June 1959
- ↑ 1961 Dun and Bradstreet KBE
- ↑ The Times, 3 July 1961
- ↑ The Times, 2 July 1962
- ↑ The Times, 20 November 1962
- ↑ The Engineer 1964/09/18
- ↑ The Times, 14 September 1964
- ↑ The Times, 17 February 1966
- ↑ The Times, 27 April 1967
- ↑ The Times, 22 March 1968
- ↑ The Engineer 1968/07/05 p9
- ↑ The Times, 10 December 1968
- ↑ The Times, 17 February 1973
- ↑ The Engineer 1974/04/18