of Sheffield
1960 Formed as result of merger of Davy-United and Power-Gas Corporation Ltd. The new company would be known as Davy-Ashmore Ltd, the Ashmore name coming from Power-Gas's principal subsidiary Ashmore, Benson, Pease and Co[1]. Existing subsidiaries would continue to operate under their current names.
1961 Manufacturers of rolling mills and steel works plant. 3,000 employees. Subsidiaries were[2]:
- Ashmore, Benson, Pease and Co
- Davy and United Engineering Co
- Davy and United Instruments
- Davy and United Roll Foundry
- Power-Gas Corporation
- Rose, Downs and Thompson
- Davy-Ashmore Export Co
as well as overseas subsidiaries.
1962 Acquired rollmaking company, John M. Moorwood Limited of Sheffield,
1968 Acquired Loewy Robertson Engineering except for the Bedford works which would be closed; the deal had the support of the Industrial Reorganisation Corporation; it would make Davy the largest British company in its field of heavy engineering[3]
1968 Queen's Award to Industry for Export Achievement
1968 Acquired Brightside Foundry and Engineering Co of Sheffield, and Armstrong Whitworth (Metal Industries) Limited of Gateshead/Jarrow, companies which were involved in rollmaking as well as general steel casting, general engineering and the manufacture of rock crushing machinery[4].
1968 Universal beam mill for Luxembourg by Davy and United Engineering Co of Darnell Works, Sheffield[5]
1969 Large orders expected from British Steel for refurbishment of its works[6].
1969 Financial crisis due to losses on 1967 contract to build an oil refinery on the River Humber for Conoco[7]. The rolling mill business was drastically reduced and some non-core activities sold off. Three contract engineering companies concerned with the process industries were acquired in West Germany and two in the USA.
1973 All the subsidiary companies were brought under a common name Davy International Ltd; 4 divisions were created:
- Davy Products, the smallest division, consisted of Davy Roll Company Limited and Davy Instruments Limited.
- Davy Loewy - the mills and machinery division, which designed, engineered and manufactured machinery for the forming and shaping of ferrous and non-ferrous metals.
- Davy Ashmore International - contract engineering division for the metals industries, particularly iron and steel.
- Davy Powergas International, the largest division, contract engineering for the process industries.
1974 Davy International, having purchased 29% of British Rollmakers Corporation, the other large maker of rolls in the UK, made a take-over offer which was rejected by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission[8].
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ The Times, Tuesday, 31 May 1960
- ↑ The Times, Sep 28, 1961
- ↑ The Times, Feb 06, 1968
- ↑ The Times, 14 August 1968
- ↑ The Engineer of 5th January 1968 p17
- ↑ The Times, 10 November 1969
- ↑ Competition Commission report: [[1]]
- ↑ http://www.competition-commission.org.uk/rep_pub/reports/1970_1975/076davy.htm
- The Engineer of 26th April 1968 p650