Alcan Aluminium (UK)
1967 Alcan Aluminium of Montreal transferred its 3 British subsidiary companies into a new holding company Alcan Aluminium (UK) Ltd[1] which owned Alcan London.
1968 Started construction of a primary aluminium smelter at Lynemouth, Northumberland, stimulated by government funding[2]; this included a dedicated power station Lynemouth Power Station.
1969 The UK operations of Alcan were:[3]:
- Alcan London
- Alindustries
- Alcanuk, marketing aluminium ingots and some related chemicals
- Share of Alcan Enfield Alloys - Enfield Rolling Mills and London Colney refinery; the other 50 percent was owned by Enfield Rolling Mills (Aluminium) Ltd
- Share of Booth - the other 50 percent owned by Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Corporation.
1970 Alcan Booth Industries acquired 25 percent of Thomas Bennett of Leeds, glass merchants and makers of aluminium shop front systems and laminated glass[4]
1971 The Lynmouth smelter, which had been much delayed, started production
1973 Alcan Aluminium (UK) owned (75 percent) Alcan Booth Industries which had several subsidiaries including: Alcan Booth Sheet and Alcan Booth Extrusions. The remainder was owned by Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Corporation[5]
1974 The capacity of the Lynmouth smelter was reduced by 80% to 100,000 tons due to the introduction of the 3-day week and power restrictions.[6]
c.1976 Alcan Aluminium acquired Thomas Bennett (of Leeds), glass makers, as its first diversification move away from metals.
1978 New factory to make bullet-resistant safety glass in Leeds.[7]