British Insulated Callender's Cables: Difference between revisions
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==History== |
==History== |
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===Callender's=== |
===Callender's Cable & Construction Company=== |
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Callender's Cable & Construction Company was founded by William Ormiston Callender in 1870.<ref name=science>{{cite web|url=https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/people/ap14775/bicc-ltd|title=BICC Ltd|publisher=Science Museum Group|accessdate=26 April 2020}}</ref> It was originally an importer and refiner of [[bitumen]] for road construction but began manufacturing insulated cables at their [[Erith]] site on the Thames in the 1880s.<ref name=science/> |
Callender's Cable & Construction Company was founded by William Ormiston Callender in 1870.<ref name=science>{{cite web|url=https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/people/ap14775/bicc-ltd|title=BICC Ltd|publisher=Science Museum Group|accessdate=26 April 2020}}</ref> It was originally an importer and refiner of [[bitumen]] for road construction but began manufacturing insulated cables at their [[Erith]] site on the Thames in the 1880s.<ref name=science/> |
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Revision as of 22:53, 26 April 2020
.jpg) | |
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Building materials |
| Founded | 1945 |
| Defunct | 2000 |
| Fate | Renamed |
| Successor | Balfour Beatty |
| Headquarters | Helsby, UK |
| Products | Electrical cable |
British Insulated Callender's Cables (BICC) was a 20th-century British cable manufacturer and construction company, now renamed after its former subsidiary Balfour Beatty. It was formed from the merger of two long established cable firms, Callender's Cable & Construction Company and British Insulated Cables.
History
Callender's Cable & Construction Company
Callender's Cable & Construction Company was founded by William Ormiston Callender in 1870.[1] It was originally an importer and refiner of bitumen for road construction but began manufacturing insulated cables at their Erith site on the Thames in the 1880s.[1]
It played a significant role in construction of the British National Grid in the 1930s building the 132 kV crossing of the Thames at Dagenham with overhead cables spanning 3060 feet (932m) between two 487 ft (148m) towers, and allowing 250 ft (76m) clearance for shipping.[2] Callender's research and engineering laboratories were based at a former power station site in White City, London, close to Ormiston House, where the company's founder had lived.[3]
British Insulated Cables
British Insulated Cables was founded as the British Insulated Wire Company at Prescot, near Liverpool in 1890.[1] It bought the rights to a paper-insulated power cable capable of transmitting electricity at 10,000 volts, for use at Deptford Power Station, from Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti.[1] It went on to acquire the Telegraph Manufacturing Company in 1902 and was renamed British Insulated Cables in 1925.[1]
The merger
Callender's Cable & Construction Company and British Insulated Cables merged to form British Insulated Callender's Cables in 1945.[4] The company was renamed BICC in 1975.[4]
In January 1991 British Copper Refiners, a subsidiary of BICC,[5] announced the closure of the Prescot plant with the loss of 230 jobs.[6]
In 1999 the ailing BICC sold its optical cables business to Corning and power cables businesses to General Cable.[7]
BICC also owned construction company Balfour Beatty and, following sale of its cable operations, BICC renamed itself Balfour Beatty in 2000.[8]
In 2002, Pirelli, who acquired the Erith plant from General Cable announced the closure of part of the site and the transfer of the production of oil-filled cable to their Eastleigh works in Hampshire.[9]
Callender's Cableworks Band
This was an amateur brass band, active between 1898 and 1961, of which all members were employees of Callender's at Erith.[10] They rehearsed and performed in their leisure time, while the company in its role of patron lent its name and supplied uniforms and instruments. The band broadcast prolifically on BBC Radio in the 1920s and 1930s.[11]
References
- ^ a b c d e "BICC Ltd". Science Museum Group. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
- ^ Power over the Thames, C. Winchester Ed 1937, Wonders of World Engineering P1321-1324, Amalgamated Press, London
- ^ Morrison, A. E.; Holder, G. F. "The History of Wood Lane" (PDF). BICC Research and Engineering Limited. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
- ^ a b BICC, Monopolies & Mergers Commission Archived 25 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "British Copper Refiners, Subsidiary of British Insulated Cables". Grace's Guide to British Industrial History. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
- ^ "Mr. George Howarth (MP for Knowsley, North)". Hansard. 26 February 1991. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
- ^ "General Cable to buy BICC Cable assets". Business Management. 1 May 2003. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
- ^ "Shake-up will see BICC change to Balfour Beatty". The Independent. 19 August 1999. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
- ^ "Pirelli to shed 445 jobs". BBC News. 20 November 2002. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
- ^ "Brass Band Results: Callenders Cable Works Band: amateur band employed by the Erith Works of the Callender Cable & Construction Co". Retrieved 26 April 2020.
- ^ "Callender's Band performance programme". 16 December 1932. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
Further reading
- R.M. Morgan, 1982, Callenders 1882-1945, BICC plc.
External links
- National Museums Liverpool Archives Department Information sheet 63 - British Insulated Callenders Cables PLC
- Documents and clippings about British Insulated Callender's Cables in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW
- Cable manufacture in London
- British companies established in 1945
- Companies based in Kent
- Wire and cable manufacturers
- Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange
- Manufacturing companies disestablished in 2000
- Industry on the River Thames
- 1945 establishments in England
- 2000 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
- Structural steel
- Manufacturing companies established in 1945