History

1964    Hereford Galvanizers Ltd is set up by Archie Phillips and Eric Beasey using a £50,000 bank loan.  A coke-heated 9 metre long kettle is installed primarily to galvanize steelwork fabricated by Archie’s company Phillips Structures.  The venture is very successful and the loan is paid back within two years.

1975    A second kettle (2.5m long) is installed at Hereford to galvanize beer barrel hoops and to also operate as a galvanizing spinning plant. Both kettles are converted from coke to electric.

1981    A failing Glasgow galvanizing plant (Clydeside Galvanizers) is bought by the company for £40,000.

1982    The Company sets up a Devon galvanizing plant.

1985    The Company sells the Devon galvanizing plant.

1986    The Hereford plant replaces its small 2.5m kettle with a 4.5m long kettle to increase the variety of non structural steelwork it can galvanize.  This kettle is a ground breaking and award winning gas-heated kettle.

1988    Hereford’s 9m kettle is replaced by one that is deeper (2m). This new kettle is also converted from electric to gas burners reducing the plants energy bill to around a quarter of the one powered by electricity.

1988    The Company buys an unused galvanizing plant in Ellesmere, Shropshire which becomes Shropshire Galvanizers (see Shropshire Galvanizers history).

1996    The Environmental Protection Act sees large changes in the galvanizing industry with fume extractors and kettle hoods being introduced.  Hereford takes this opportunity to replace its two existing 9m and 4.5m kettles with one 10m long kettle – the size we still have today.  The cost of these changes is around £700,000.

1997    After 16 years of ownership, Clydeside Galvanizers is sold by the Group.

2005    The Hereford plant replaces its acid pre-treatment tanks.

2011   The Company sets up its Powder Coating plant in Oswestry (see Shropshire Galvanizers history).

2014   The Company celebrates 50 years in business.