| GKN plc | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Type | Public (LSE: GKN) |
| Founded | 1902 |
| Headquarters | Redditch, United Kingdom |
| Industry | Vehicles and Equipment |
| Products | Automotive & aerospace engineering |
| Revenue | £4,447m GBP (2004) |
| Operating income | £268m GBP (2004) |
| Net income | £65m GBP (2004) |
| Employees | 40,600 |
| Website | www.gkn.com |
GKN plc is a British engineering company, formerly one of the world's largest manufacturers of fasteners. The London Stock Exchange or LSE is a Stock exchange located in London, England. Redditch is a Town and local government district in north-east Worcestershire, England. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located For other uses of this term see Industry (disambiguation An industry (from Latin industrius, "diligent industrious" In Marketing, a product is anything that can be offered to a Market that might satisfy a want or need In business revenue or revenues is Income that a company receives from its normal business activities usually from the sale of goods and services In financial and business Accounting, earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT is a measure of a firm's profitability that excludes interest and income tax expenses Net income is equal to the Income that a firm has after subtracting costs and Expenses from the total Revenue. Employment is a Contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. A website (alternatively web site or Web site, a back-construction from the Proper noun World Wide Web) is a collection of Web pages The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Engineering is the Discipline and Profession of applying technical and scientific Knowledge and A fastener is a Hardware device that mechanically joins or affixes two or more objects together The group was formerly known as Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds and can tracing its origins back to 1759 and the birth of the industrial revolution. Year 1759 ( MDCCLIX) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year The Industrial Revolution was a period in the late 18th and early 19th centuries when major changes in agriculture manufacturing and transportation had a profound effect on the It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. The London Stock Exchange or LSE is a Stock exchange located in London, England. The FTSE 250 Index (ˈfʊtsiː footsie) is a capitalisation -weighted index of 250 companies on the London Stock Exchange.
Contents |
History
Foundations: 1759 to 1899
The origins of GKN in the founding of the Dowlais Ironworks in the village of Dowlais, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales by landowner Wyndham William Lewis. The Dowlais Ironworks was a major Ironworks and Steelworks located at Dowlais near Merthyr Tydfil, in Wales. The Dowlais Ironworks was a major Ironworks and Steelworks located at Dowlais near Merthyr Tydfil, in Wales. Merthyr Tydfil today Government The current Borough boundaries date back to 1974 when the former county borough of Merthyr Tydfil expanded slightly to cover John Guest was appointed manager of the works in 1767. The Guest family were a British family of the eighteenth, nineteenth, twentieth centuries who among other things built a huge industrial Year 1767 ( MDCCLXVII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a He discovered coal on Lewis's property and used it to replace charcoal for smelting. Charcoal' is the blackish residue consisting of impure Carbon obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from Animal and Vegetation Chemical reduction, or smelting, is a form of Extractive metallurgy. He became a partner in the business in 1782 with Lewis and salesman William Taitt who later became his son-in-law. Year 1782 ( MDCCLXXXII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common
Thomas Guest succeeded his father in 1787. The Guest family were a British family of the eighteenth, nineteenth, twentieth centuries who among other things built a huge industrial Year 1787 ( MDCCLXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common 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. A steam engine is a Heat engine that performs Mechanical work using Steam as its Working fluid. Year 1753 ( MDCCLIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year The Watt steam engine was the first type of Steam engine to make use of steam at a pressure just above atmospheric to drive the piston helped by a partial vacuum Year 1795 ( MDCCXCV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a
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. Sir Josiah John Guest 1st Baronet, known as John Josiah Guest, ( February 2, 1785 - November 26, 1852) was a Welsh Year 1815 ( MDCCCXV) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Iron (ˈаɪɚn is a Chemical element with the symbol Fe (ferrum and Atomic number 26 Steel is an Alloy consisting mostly of Iron, with a Carbon content between 0 The Bessemer process was the first inexpensive Industrial process for the mass-production of Steel from molten Pig iron. The first Bessemer steel was rolled at the works in 1865. Year 1865 ( MDCCCLXV) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year John Josiah Guest was assisted in the management of the Dowlais Works by his wife Lady Charlotte Guest. Lady Charlotte Elizabeth Guest, (née Bertie ( May 19, 1812 – January 15, 1895) later Lady Charlotte Schreiber, was an English On John Josiah Guest's death, the works was administered by his trustees, G. T. Clark and Henry Austin Bruce, 1st Baron Aberdare. George Thomas Clark ( 26 May 1809 - 6 April 1885) was a British Engineer and Antiquary, particularly associated Henry Austin Bruce 1st Baron Aberdare GCB, PC, FRS ( 16 April 1815 &ndash 25 February 1895) was a British 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. Year 1898 ( MDCCCXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Ivor Bertie Guest 1st Baron Wimborne ( 29 August 1835 – 22 February 1914) was a Welsh industrialist Year 1899 ( MDCCCXCIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Arthur Keen ( 23 January 1835 - 8 February 1915) was a British Entrepreneur, the Keen in Engineering
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. Events 455 - Roman military commander Avitus is proclaimed Emperor of the Western Roman Empire. Year 1900 ( MCM) was an exceptional Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar Arthur Keen ( 23 January 1835 - 8 February 1915) was a British Entrepreneur, the Keen in Engineering Arthur Keen ( 23 January 1835 - 8 February 1915) was a British Entrepreneur, the Keen in Engineering 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. Joseph Henry Nettlefold ( 19 September 1827 &ndash 22 November 1881) was a British Industrialist, the Nettlefold Smethwick (pronounced 'Smethick' is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, in the West Midlands of England. Year 1854 ( MDCCCLIV) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common year Year 1902 ( MCMII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting
These mergers heralded half a century in which the name GKN became synonymous with the manufacture of screws, nuts, bolts and other fasteners. A screw is a shaft with a helical groove or thread formed on its surface and provision at one end to turn the screw A nut is a type of Hardware Fastener with a threaded hole Nuts are almost always used opposite a mating bolt to fasten a stack of parts together A screw is a shaft with a helical groove or thread formed on its surface and provision at one end to turn the screw A fastener is a Hardware device that mechanically joins or affixes two or more objects together 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. In Microeconomics and Management, the term vertical integration describes a style of Management control.
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. Year 1966 ( MCMLXVI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. Birmingham ( ˈbɜːmɪŋəm Ber -ming-um England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Constant-velocity joints (aka homokinetic or CV joints) allow a rotating shaft to transmit power through Historically, such joints had had few applications, even following the improved design proposed by Alfred H. Rzeppa in 1936. Alfred Hans Rzeppa ( January 23, 1885 &ndash January 1965 was an Engineer working at Ford Motor Company who invented a version of Constant-velocity Year 1936 ( MCMXXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. 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 year 1959 ( MCMLIX) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis, CBE, FRS (November 18 1906&ndashOctober 2 1988 was a Greek - British designer The Mini is a small car that was produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC and its successors from 1959 until 2000 Front-wheel drive (or FF layout) is a form of engine / transmission layout used in Motor vehicles where the engine drives the front Wheels 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. Year 1970 ( MCMLXX) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1980 ( MCMLXXX) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar) See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar.
During the 1980s, GKN sought to invest its earnings from constant-velocity joints in developing other nascent technologies. Year 1980 ( MCMLXXX) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar) 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. Year 1991 ( MCMXCI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. 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. This article is about the field of research and industry for the corporation see The Aerospace Corporation Aerospace comprises the
In 1994, GKN acquired the helicopter manufacturing business of Westland Aircraft. Year 1994 ( MCMXCIV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1994 Gregorian calendar) History Since 400 AD Chinese children have played with bamboo flying toys. Westland Aircraft was a British Aircraft manufacturer located in Yeovil in Somerset. In 1998 the armoured vehicle business was sold to Alvis plc, and subsequently incorporated into Alvis Vickers Ltd. Alvis Ltd was created when United Scientific Holdings plc acquired the Alvis division of the nationalised vehicle manufacturer BL plc in 1981 Alvis Ltd was created when United Scientific Holdings plc acquired the Alvis division of the nationalised vehicle manufacturer BL plc in 1981 In July 2000 Finmeccanica and GKN agreed to merge their respective helicopter subsidiaries to form AgustaWestland. Finmeccanica SpA is an Italian conglomerate. Finmeccanica is the second largest industrial group and the largest of the Hi-tech industrial groups based AgustaWestland is a Helicopter design and manufacturing company based in Italy and the United Kingdom. In 2004 GKN completed the sale of its 50% shareholding in AgustaWestland to Finmeccanica. AgustaWestland is a Helicopter design and manufacturing company based in Italy and the United Kingdom. Finmeccanica SpA is an Italian conglomerate. Finmeccanica is the second largest industrial group and the largest of the Hi-tech industrial groups based
From the late 1990s, the company built a major global business in powder metallurgy, which operates as the GKN Sinter Metals group. The 1990s collectively refers to the years between and including 1990 and 1999 Powder metallurgy is a forming and fabrication technique consisting of three major processing stages
GKN's turnover for the year ended 31 December 2004 was just under £3. 5 billion.
Bibliography
- Elsas, M. (1960). Iron in the Making. Dowlais Iron Company Letters 1782-1860. Glamorgan: County Records Committee.
- Jones, E (1987). A History of GKN Volume 1: Innovation and Enterprise 1759-1918. London: Macmillan. ISBN 0333345940.
- — (1990). A History of GKN Volume 2: The Growth of a Business 1918-45. London: Macmillan. ISBN 0333445783.
- Owen, J. A. (1977). The History of the Dowlais Iron Works 1759-1970. Newport, Monmouthshire: Starling Press. ISBN 0-503434-27-X.
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