British Nylon Spinners (BNS) was a British company set up in 1940 by
ICI and
Courtaulds
Courtaulds was a United Kingdom-based manufacturer of fabric, clothing, artificial fibres, and chemicals. It was established in 1794 and became the world's leading man-made fibre production company before being broken up in 1990 into Courtaulds ...
to produce
nylon
Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers composed of polyamides ( repeating units linked by amide links).The polyamides may be aliphatic or semi-aromatic.
Nylon is a silk-like thermoplastic, generally made from petro ...
yarn. In 1964 it was taken over by ICI after ICI had tried and failed to take over Courtaulds.
Beginning
In 1939, ICI took out a licence to manufacture nylon fibre. Realizing that they needed the experience of a specialised textile firm, ICI formed a partnership with Courtaulds, who were leading suppliers of
viscose
Rayon is a semi-synthetic fiber, made from natural sources of regenerated cellulose, such as wood and related agricultural products. It has the same molecular structure as cellulose. It is also called viscose. Many types and grades of viscose ...
rayon. In January 1940 they registered British Nylon Spinners as a
limited company
In a limited company, the liability of members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by Share (finance), shares or by guarantee. In a company limited by ...
with a nominal capital of £300,000 and took equal shares in the company. The product was badly needed to make parachutes, especially after Japan's entry into the war in December 1941 blocked supplies of silk. Given the timing, it may well be that the Government 'persuaded' the two companies to do this. A country which is at war or contemplating war is likely to take control of all major investments.
In March 1940 Courtaulds announced that they were building a plant which would go into production in the autumn. This was at Lockhurst Lane,
Coventry
Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...
. Production began on 23 January 1941.
[Elliott page 5] At this stage nylon polymer and spinner units were being supplied from the U.S. by
DuPont
DuPont de Nemours, Inc., commonly shortened to DuPont, is an American multinational chemical company first formed in 1802 by French-American chemist and industrialist Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours. The company played a major role in ...
. The site was bombed on 14 November 1940 and 8 April 1941. The second attack stopped production for several weeks.
[
It was agreed with the ]Ministry of Supply
The Ministry of Supply (MoS) was a department of the UK government formed in 1939 to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to all three British armed forces, headed by the Minister of Supply. A separate ministry, however, was responsible for aircr ...
that they should find a safer site. Banbury
Banbury is a historic market town on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. It had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census.
Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding area of north Oxfordshire ...
was considered but the final choice was Stowmarket
Stowmarket ( ) is a market town in Suffolk, England,OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket
Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton A2 edition. Publishing Date:2008. on the busy A14 road (Great Britain), A14 trunk ...
, Suffolk, where ICI Paints Division was already established. Two-thirds of production would be here and one third at Coventry. Limited production began at Stowmarket in December 1942 and full production in June 1943. Both Coventry and Stowmarket closed in 1948.
In March 1945 it was announced that they had purchased a site in South Wales. This was at Mamhilad
Mamhilad ( cy, Mamheilad) is a village in the community of Goetre Fawr in Monmouthshire, south east Wales.
Location
Mamhilad is two miles to the north east of Pontypool, Torfaen County Borough.
History and amenities
Mamhilad has a pub call ...
, Pontypool
Pontypool ( cy, Pont-y-pŵl ) is a town and the administrative centre of the county borough of Torfaen, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire in South Wales. It has a population of 28,970.
Location
It is situated on the Afon Lwyd ri ...
. In November 1945, it was announced that F. C. Bagnall had been appointed managing director of the company, which was based in Coventry
Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...
.
In May 1947 ICI announced that they were building a new plant in Billingham
Billingham is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, England. The town is on the north side of the River Tees and is governed by Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council. The settlement had previously formed its o ...
to make nylon polymer. This would have a capacity of 10,000 lb. per year. Some of this polymer would go to Plastics Division but most would go to BNS. During the war polymer had been made in Huddersfield
Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...
and used to make parachutes, rope and other materials.
In July 1948 Courtaulds announced that the Pontypool
Pontypool ( cy, Pont-y-pŵl ) is a town and the administrative centre of the county borough of Torfaen, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire in South Wales. It has a population of 28,970.
Location
It is situated on the Afon Lwyd ri ...
factory was near completion but there were delays owing to shortage of construction materials.
The first yarn was spun at Pontypool on 20 April 1948. However, there were quality problems so initially only one machine was in experimental use. The first problem was with discoloured polymer; then there was a wide variety of yarn production issues. These took months of combined effort to solve. By September 1948 they were ready to run three machines.[Elliott p 21/2] In July 1949 Courtaulds announced that production had begun at Pontypool in the previous April. They expected full production to be reached by the end of the year. Most production would have to be exported under government direction. However it wasn't until May 1950 that all production was passed from development personnel to production personnel.[
When completed, the Pontypool site had a production plant, a pilot plant, a building devoted to testing and developing the products to support their successful use by customers (Technical Development Department), an administration block and a research and development block. Most of the buildings were still present in 2011. They can be found at the junction, near Little Mill, between the A4042 and the minor road to ]Mamhilad
Mamhilad ( cy, Mamheilad) is a village in the community of Goetre Fawr in Monmouthshire, south east Wales.
Location
Mamhilad is two miles to the north east of Pontypool, Torfaen County Borough.
History and amenities
Mamhilad has a pub call ...
.
In February 1949 the CIC granted permission to increase the capital from £6 million to £8 million.
Operation and growth
In 1950 BNS reduced their prices by more than 20% owing to increased production volume and improving methods. Also Courtaulds said BNS was close to full production and planning to increase capacity. This would mean retaining profits within BNS but Courtaulds and ICI hoped that they would soon receive some reward for their investment. The outlook was good. One year later they said BNS had made substantial progress and work had begun on expansion. In 1952 progress was continuing.
In 1952 BNS had to go to court to defend its right to produce its product. Du Pont had granted nylon thread patents to ICI in December 1946. In turn ICI had granted exclusive rights to BNS the following March. However the US Attorney General
The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...
had begun a long term action in the US under the Sherman Act
The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 (, ) is a United States antitrust law which prescribes the rule of free competition among those engaged in commerce. It was passed by Congress and is named for Senator John Sherman, its principal author.
Th ...
in 1944. On 30 July 1952 the judge made an order requiring ICI to reassign the patents to Du Pont within 90 days. This would have ruined BNS so they applied to the British court to obtain an injunction to restrain ICI from complying with the US court's order. The judge decided that it would be quite wrong for a foreign court to impose an order on a British company forcing them to break a contract which had been entered upon properly and fairly in the course of commercial operations. This decision was appealed and the appeal court confirmed it, noting that the US judge had expressed some doubt as to the likelihood of his decision being accepted in the UK.
In 1953 the company provided nylon to John Southworth and Sons of Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
to make special clothing for the Everest expedition. The company announced that they had acquired a factory formerly used by British Bemberg Ltd in Doncaster. The factory was being adapted for the production of nylon yarn. In 1955 they made a start with about 350 people eventually expanding to 1500.
In 1954 the managing director Bagnall announced that the prices of all fine denier nylon yarn would be reduced by 15% and staple by 10%. This would make it the cheapest in the world.
In 1955 a purpose-built clubhouse was built at Pontypool. It was opened on 5 November by Lord Raglan
Baron Raglan, of Raglan in the County of Monmouth, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 20 October 1852 for the military commander Lord FitzRoy Somerset, chiefly remembered as commander of the British troops ...
, the Lord Lieutenant. It had a fine hall used for dancing and concerts. Over the years many famous performers gave concerts there. In 1959/60 a clubhouse was built at Doncaster. It was opened on 10 October 1960 by the Earl of Scarborough
Earl of Scarbrough is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1690 for Richard Lumley, 2nd Viscount Lumley. He is best remembered as one of the Immortal Seven who invited William of Orange to invade England and depose his father- ...
. In May 1963 a clubhouse was opened at Gloucester.
In 1957 ''The Times'' published a ''Textile Glossary'', which included nylon. There were now some 40 different types of nylon stockings on the market including yarn as fine as 9 denier, five times finer than human hair.
Also in 1957 the Melbourne correspondent of ''The Times'' reported that BNS had decided to manufacture the first nylon yarn in Australia.
In September of the same year, plans for big extensions were announced for Doncaster Works. 900 people were working there. This would increase by 400–500 men and 50–100 women. The cost was estimated at £3-£4 M. Completion was due by the end of 1958. Eventually there would be 1800 people of whom 90% would be men. There would be a three shift system. Besides production, team of experts would be employed to improve the company's expertise with nylon staple.
In December BNS announced that they had developed an elasticised yarn. Manufacturers of stockings could now produce ranges with only three size fittings.
In 1958 the Navy announced that its new aircraft direction frigate HMS ''Llandaff'' was to be equipped with nylon and Terylene
Polyethylene terephthalate (or poly(ethylene terephthalate), PET, PETE, or the obsolete PETP or PET-P), is the most common thermoplastic polymer resin of the polyester family and is used in fibres for clothing, containers for liquids and foods ...
ropes instead of the traditional wire ropes. It was said that commercial shipping had been doing so for some time. Compared with wire they gave much more strength relative to weight, retained flexibility in the cold, withstood sudden shocks, and retained strength in the wet.
Also in 1958 BNS applied to the Board of Trade
The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for International Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...
to build a nylon factory at Leigh Park, Havant
Havant ( ) is a town in the south-east corner of Hampshire, England between Portsmouth and Chichester. Its borough (population: 125,000) comprises the town (45,826) and its suburbs including the resort of Hayling Island as well as Rowland's Castl ...
, Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
. It was to cost £10M, employ 2000 people, and cover 100 acres. The local authorities supported the application. The application was rejected on the grounds that other parts of the country were in more need. There were protests but they were unavailing.
The Secretary of State for Scotland met a deputation from Greenock
Greenock (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council areas of Scotland, council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh of barony, burgh within the Counties of Scotland, historic ...
Town Council to discuss unemployment there. He said he hoped that BNS could be persuaded to make their new investment in Scotland and that a great deal of work had been done on a £6M proposal for a new dry dock in Greenock.
There had also been a delay in the delivery of new nylon-twisting machines at Doncaster Works. Skilled operatives were being employed on unskilled work to avoid losing them.
In 1962, BNS took over a site near the old Gloster Aircraft Company
The Gloster Aircraft Company was a British aircraft manufacturer from 1917 to 1963.
Founded as the Gloucestershire Aircraft Company Limited during the First World War, with the aircraft construction activities of H H Martyn & Co Ltd of Chelte ...
site near Gloucester
Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...
, employing people made redundant by the closure of the famous aircraft company. They expected to employ about 2,500 people.
BNS had a weekly paper ''Signpost'' and a monthly ''BNS Magazine'' for internal consumption. ''Signpost'' was renamed ''Fibres Post'' in 1965.
BNS had subsidiaries abroad in: Australia, New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
, South Africa, (Germany), United States (in partnership with ICI and Celanese
Celanese Corporation, formerly known as Hoechst Celanese, is an American technology and specialty materials company headquartered in Irving, Texas. A Fortune 500 corporation, the company is the world’s leading producer of acetic acid, produc ...
) and Canada. Some of these manufactured yarn, others were purely sales operations.
ICI takeover
In 1962 ICI made a takeover bid for Courtaulds. Courtaulds resisted it vigorously and won the battle. However, talks between the two companies continued and in April 1964 they made recommendations to their shareholders. ICI would surrender its 37.5 per cent holding in Courtaulds and pay Courtaulds two million pounds a year for five years, "to take account of the future development expenditure of Courtaulds in the nylon field". In return Courtaulds were to transfer to ICI their 50 per cent holding in BNS.[''Keesing's Record of World Events'' (formerly ''Keesing's Contemporary Archives''), Volume 10 (1964), Jul 1964 United Kingdom, page 20162] BNS was absorbed into ICI's existing fibres operation, ICI Fibres, which was based on polyester
Polyester is a category of polymers that contain the ester functional group in every repeat unit of their main chain. As a specific material, it most commonly refers to a type called polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Polyesters include natural ...
.
References
Elliott, Arthur (2009), History of British Nylon Spinners, Old Bakehouse Publications, Church Street, Abertillery
Abertillery (; cy, Abertyleri) is a town and a community of the Ebbw Fach valley in the historic county of Monmouthshire, Wales. Following local government reorganisation it became part of the Blaenau Gwent County Borough administrative area ...
, NP13 1EA
{{Authority control
1940 establishments in England
Manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom
Textile companies of the United Kingdom
Defunct manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom
British companies established in 1940
British companies disestablished in 1964