| Avon Rubber plc | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Type | Public (LSE: AVON) |
| Founded | Limpley Stoke (1885) |
| Headquarters | Melksham, Wiltshire, UK |
| Key people | Trevor Bonner chairman |
| Industry | Manufacturing |
| Products | Rubber-based products |
| Revenue |  £1.7 billion |
| Employees | Approx. 400 |
| Website | www.avon-rubber.com |
Avon Rubber plc is a world-leading manufacturer of high technology rubber-based products, principally components for a number of manufacturing sectors. Its largest divisions, namely Avon Technical Products, Avon Protection Systems and Milk-Rite produce equipment and components for the armed forces, first response emergency services and the dairy/agricultural sectors, amongst several others. Its corporate headquarters are located 3 km (2 miles) south of Melksham in Wiltshire, UK at the modern Hampton Park West development. Avon also has a purpose-built polymer mixing facility plus a materials development centre at nearby Westbury together with five offices across the USA.
History
In 1885 Messrs E G Browne and J C Margetson acquired a cloth mill, known as Avon Mill, on the banks of the River Avon at Limpley Stoke. The previous owners of the mill had originally been timber merchants, but had later diversified into the production of rubber goods. By 1890 the business had transferred to premises in Melksham. Products at this time included solid tyres, conveyor belts and components for railways. By 1900 pneumatic tyres for bicycles were being produced, and by 1906 the first car tyres were advertised. In 1915 the company acquired Greenland Mill in Bradford on Avon. In 1933 the company was floated on the London Stock Exchange. In 1956 the rival company of George Spencer Moulton (founded in 1848) was acquired, bringing with it Abbey Mills and Kingston Mills in Bradford on Avon, and a jointly owned plant in Paris. In 1959 production started on a range of inflatable boats. In 1994 the marine business of Avon Inflatables, Ltd was split-off and sold. The business still exists, but is no longer part of the group. In 1997 the Avon Tyres business was sold to Cooper Tire & Rubber Company of Findlay, Ohio in the USA, leaving the company to concentrate on its core businesses of automotive components, technical products and protective equipment. The CooperTires site remains a major employer in central Melksham. In March 2000, Avon consolidated it activities at its £19 million state-of-the-art manufacturing and head office facility at Hampton Park West at Semington, near Melksham and a £13 million purpose-built polymer mixing centre at Westbury. As of 2006, around 370 people work across the two sites. In August 2006, the Avon Automotive division was sold to a US-based management team and became a separate entity called Avon Automotive Holdings Inc. This was the largest single buy-out in the company's history, leaving the organisation to concentrate on its core protective equipment and technical products/components markets.
