Frederick Cooper plc
of Wolverhampton, processors of cold rolled steel strip and formed sections
of Great Bridge Street, West Bromwich (1997)
of Walsall (1988), a conglomerate
1964 Frederick Robert Cooper and his wife, of Shifnal, registered Frederick Cooper (Holdings) Ltd[1]
1965 Shares admitted to the Birmingham Stock Exchange[2]
1967 Acquired Malthouse Engineering Co of Tipton[3]
1969 AGM told by F R Cooper, chairman, that Elwell Sections Ltd had been unable to make full use of its new capacity which was the reason group profits had declined even though turnover had increased. C. M. Steel Mills had produced record profits[4]
1970 Custom Coil Coaters would be relocated to space on C. M. Steel Mills site[5]
1977 A change in Government policy on telephone exchanges had meant that subsidiary Latham Manufacturing Co lost half its turnover[6]
1982 Re-registered as a public limited company
1985 Trading subsidiaries:[7]
- C. M. Steel Mills Ltd
- Cooper Coated Coil Ltd
- Cooper Handling Co Ltd
- Cooper International Ltd
- Cooper Security Products Ltd
- Cooper Technical Components Ltd
- Enniskillen Precision Engineering Ltd
- Latham Manufacturing Co Ltd
- The Cooper Horse Shoe Nail Co Ltd
- Cooper Serve B.V.
1986 Disposed of the principal assets of Cooper Horse Shoe Nail Co[8], and of C. M. Steel Mills[9]
1986 Acquisitions made for the Electrical, Security and Architectural Ironmongery, Specialist Engineering, and Materials Handling divisions, although the strategy was now to acquire for the first two of these. Acquired:[10]
- D. Evans Electrical Ltd
- Comall Engineering Ltd
- Futters (London) Ltd
- Deltron Components Ltd
- Accurate Controls Ltd
1987 Acquired:[11]
- Astic Cables Ltd
- Lockart Ltd
- W. E. T. Engineering Co Ltd
- New Defiant Products Ltd
- Pioneer Box Ltd
- DD Lamson plc
- Lamson Nederland BV
and increased holding in Wilkinson Homewares to 50 percent
1987 Acquired Brent Group, maker of electrical leads, etc[12]
1988 Acquired Park Rubber, including its subsidiaries Callaver and Safewype[13] and Gibbons of Willenhall, maker of domestic locks[14], and Lorlin Electronics[15]
1988 The electrical products group consisted of:[16]
- Futters (London) Ltd
- Deltron Components Ltd
- D. Evans Electrical Ltd
- Cooper Technical Components Ltd
- Astic Cables Ltd
- Brent Components Ltd
- Manuform Ltd
- Stamford Metallics Ltd
- Lorlin Electronics plc
1989 Acquired Cartwright, Leeds-based distributor of architectural ironmongery[17]
1990 Accurate Controls, DD Lamson and Lamson Nederland BV were sold[18]
1990 Acquired Group Sales, distibutor of door and window fittings, and Beaver Industrial Ironmongery[19]
1992 had become Britain's second largest supplier of window locks and door knobs.
Sales of non-core businesses
1997 Sold Park Rubber, Hometime and Frederick Cooper Architectural Distribution
By 1997 the company was mainly a coater of coils of metal and a producer of kitchenware and also of hardware[20]
Profits fell
2000 Acquired Stevensons of Shipley
2003 Acquired by Tommico Ltd[21]
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ Companies House filing
- ↑ The Times Feb. 26, 1965
- ↑ The Times Nov. 24, 1967
- ↑ The Times Sept. 4, 1969
- ↑ The Times Sept. 4, 1970
- ↑ The Times Jan. 10, 1977
- ↑ 1985 Annual report; similar list in 1986 annual report
- ↑ the Times Mar. 15, 1986
- ↑ The Times June 5, 1986
- ↑ 1987 Annual report
- ↑ 1987 Annual report
- ↑ The Times Nov. 27, 1987
- ↑ The Times , Jan. 14, 1988
- ↑ The Times May 12, 1988
- ↑ The Times Oct. 26, 1988
- ↑ 1988 Annual report
- ↑ The Times Sept. 30, 1989
- ↑ 1990 Annual report
- ↑ The Ties Aug. 21, 1990
- ↑ 1997 Annual report
- ↑ 2003 Annual report