1923 The Bodycote family founded a textile company, G. R. Bodycote Ltd, in Hinckley, Leicester
1951 The Bodycote family operated three knitwear factories in the Leicester area
1953 G. R. Bodycote (Holdings) Ltd was incorporated
1969 Became part of the Slater, Walker Securities group
1971 Change of name to Bodycote Holdings Ltd
By 1972, Bodycote's group turnover was £15.4 million with a profit of £1.2 million; well above average for the textile industry at that time. A succession of acquisitions including several UK listed companies and a leading Dutch clothing manufacturer, with German and Swedish subsidiaries, enabled the group to become European niche market leader in textile industry sectors, offering fabric finishing, acrylic spinning, blanket weaving and producing silk, household textiles, workwear and safety products.
In 1973 all of the Group's companies were spun off by Slater Walker plc, becoming Bodycote International, with Joe Dwek as Chairman.
During the 1970s the importance of health and safety at work became more widely recognised. Bodycote responded by growing its specialist subsidiary companies producing safety equipment, workwear, bullet-proof and flame-retardant materials. However, overseas competition became more intense and, combined with the first oil shock, some subsidiaries became unviable causing an acceleration in their disposal. Bodycote managed to sustain profit margins by the introduction of new technology; however, the cost of production in Europe kept increasing and low-cost competition could not be restrained by technology alone. By the late 1970s, it was clear that an entirely new strategy for Bodycote's development was urgently required.
1979 Decision to reconstruct the Group to move from textile manufacturing toward service industries. Bodycote acquired the heat treatment company, Blandburgh of Macclesfield.
1980 the company moved into metallurgical coatings by acquiring Zinc Alloy Rust Proofing, whose plants in the North, Midlands and Wales provided the unique Sherardizing service and zinc electroplating.
1981 Bodycote International plc was re-registered as a public company
The company’s strategy for future growth was controlled by John Chesworth, a director of Blandburgh, who joined the Bodycote board in 1981
1983 Acquired Nemo Heat Treatments
Shortly after these acquisitions, the heat treatment division of Bodycote was unified, as Blandburgh Nemo
Expansion continued through greenfield facilities at Corby, Chard, Birmingham and Macclesfield and further acquisitions in the UK.
1990 Bodycote acquired Metallurgical Testing Services (MTS) of Edinburgh, Scotland from Murray International plc, and sold Skelmersdale Packaging.
1991 Bodycote acquired Chesterfield-based H. I. P. and Infutec from Marshalls plc. This was a bold step into Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP), an emerging technology, the markets for which had still to be developed, but which benefited from market synergy with vacuum heat treatment services.
1992 The North American company Industrial Materials Technology Inc. (IMT), another hot isostatic pressing company, was acquired
1993 John Chesworth became Group Managing Director.
1997 The last of the textile and packaging companies were sold. Production commenced at the fully automated Macclesfield heat treatment plant and the new Bodycote International plc headquarters opened in Macclesfield.
1996 September: Bodycote acquired seven plants in USA and Canada with Hinderliter Heat Treating; John Hubbard, who became CEO in 2002, also joined Bodycote as part of this acquisition.
1997 Bodycote expanded its heat treatment presence into the Nordic countries by acquiring the 24 plants of Brukens Thermotreat AB.
The acquisition of Hauzer BV was also completed, thus making the Group a major player in the PVD coatings field.
Later that year Bodycote acquired the HIT Group of France
1998 Acquired the Thermal Processing Group from TI Group[1]
2001 Acquired Lindberg, the long established market leader for thermal processing services in the USA; Bodycote then had 60 plants in its North American group.
2008 As a result of an in-depth strategic review, the Board decided to focus the Group on its core thermal processing operations, provided as outsourcing services to 3rd parties, and dispose of the testing business, which had expanded considerably in recent years. The ensuing auction process resulted in the sale of the testing business in October 2008. The Board also initiated a major reorganisation of the remaining thermal processing activities to achieve a lower fixed cost base and focus on higher value added services.
2015 Revenue £567million. Employs 5,400 worldwide.[2]
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ The Times Feb. 7, 1998
- ↑ 2015 Annual Report