GKN
GKN plc is a
British engineering company formerly known as
Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds and tracing its origins back to
1759 and the birth of the
industrial revolution. It is listed on the
London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the
FTSE 250 Index.
Foundations: 1759 to 1899
The origins of GKN lie in the founding of the
Dowlais Ironworks in the village of
Dowlais,
Merthyr Tydfil,
Wales by landowner
Wyndham William Lewis.
John Guest was appointed manager of the works in
1767. He discovered
coal on Lewis's property and used it to replace
charcoal for
smelting. He became a partner in the business in
1782 with Lewis and salesman
William Taitt who later became his son-in-law.
Thomas Guest succeeded his father in
1787. Though there have been claims of
steam power at Dowlais as early as
1753, it is more likely that it was Thomas who introduced steam for blowing the furnaces with a
Watt steam engine in
1795.
By the time John's grandson,
John Josiah Guest became sole owner in
1815, the company was the largest
iron and
steel producer in the world, becoming the first organisation to license the
Bessemer process for steel production. The first Bessemer steel was rolled at the works in
1865.
John Josiah Guest was assisted in the management of the
Dowlais Works by his wife
Lady Charlotte Guest.
On John Josiah Guest's death, the works was administered by his trustees,
G. T. Clark and
Henry Austin Bruce, 1st Baron Aberdare. After the death of the former in
1898, John Josiah's son,
Ivor Bertie Guest, 1st Baron Wimborne, became active but was distracted by other interests and responded to an approach in
1899 from
Arthur Keen.
Nuts and bolts: 1900 to 1965
On
9th July 1900, the Dowlais Iron Company and
Arthur Keen's
Patent Nut and Bolt Company merged to form
Guest, Keen & Co. Ltd.
Nettlefolds Limited, a leading manuacturer of fasteners, had been established in
Smethwick in
1854 and was acquired in
1902 leading to the change of name to
Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds.
These mergers heralded half a century in which the name
GKN became synonymous with the manufacture of
screws,
nuts,
bolts and other
fasteners. The company reflected the
vertical integration fashionable at the time embracing activities from coal and ore extraction, and iron and steel making to manufacturing finished goods.
Beyond the fastener: 1966 to the present
In
1966, in a programme of diversification, the company acquired
Hardy Spicer Limited of
Birmingham,
England, a manufacturer of
constant-velocity joints. Historically, such joints had had few applications, even following the improved design proposed by
Alfred H. Rzeppa in
1936. However, in
1959,
Alec Issigonis had developed the revolutionary
Mini motor car which relied on such joints for its novel
front wheel drive technology. The massive expansion in the exploitation of front wheel drive in the
1970s and
1980s led to the acquisition of other similar businesses and a 43% share of the world market by
2002.
During the
1980s, GKN sought to invest its earnings from constant-velocity joints in developing other nascent technologies. However, little success attended these efforts and in
1991 the company resolved to abandon further research and to redivert its development efforts towards its constant-velocity joint business in which it was facing increasing competition from
Japan. During the same period, the company finally withdrew from the manufacture of fasteners and from steel production. Changing its name to
GKN plc, it diversified into military vehicles,
aerospace and industrial services.
In
1994, GKN acquired the
helicopter manufacturing business of
Westland Aircraft. In 1998 the armoured vehicle business was sold to
Alvis plc, and subsequently incorporated into
Alvis Vickers Ltd. In July 2000
Finmeccanica and GKN agreed to merge their respective helicopter subsidiaries to form
AgustaWestland. In 2004 GKN completed the sale of its 50% shareholding in
AgustaWestland to
Finmeccanica.
From the late
1990s, the company built a major global business in
powder metallurgy, which operates as the GKN Sintermetals group.
GKN's turnover for the year ended 31 December 2004 was just under £3.5 billion.
* Jones, E (1987)
A History of GKN Volume 1: Innovation and Enterprise 1759-1918* Jones, E (1990)
A History of GKN Volume 2: The Growth of a Business 1918-45*
Official website*
Yahoo profile
