Tata Chemicals Europe (formerly Brunner Mond (UK) Limited) is a UK-based chemicals company that is a subsidiary of

Tata Chemicals Limited Tata Chemicals Limited is an Indian global company with interests in chemicals, crop protection and specialty chemistry products headquartered in Mumbai, India. The company is one of the largest chemical companies in India with operations in In ...

, itself a part of the India-based

Tata Group The Tata Group () is an Indian multinational conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai. Established in 1868, it is India's largest conglomerate, with products and services in over 150 countries, and operations in 100 countries across six continent ...

. Its principal products are soda ash,

sodium bicarbonate Sodium bicarbonate (IUPAC name: sodium hydrogencarbonate), commonly known as baking soda or bicarbonate of soda, is a chemical compound with the formula NaHCO3. It is a salt composed of a sodium cation ( Na+) and a bicarbonate anion ( HCO3−) ...

, calcium chloride and associated alkaline chemicals.

History

The original company was formed as a partnership in 1873 (becoming a limited company in 1881) by

John Brunner John Brunner may refer to: * Sir John Brunner, 1st Baronet (1842–1919), British industrialist and Liberal Member of Parliament * John L. Brunner (1929–1980), Pennsylvania politician * Sir John Brunner, 2nd Baronet (1865–1929), British Libera ...

and

Ludwig Mond Ludwig Mond FRS (7 March 1839 – 11 December 1909) was a German-born, British chemist and industrialist. He discovered an important, previously unknown, class of compounds called metal carbonyls. Education and career Ludwig Mond was born i ...

. They built Winnington Works in

Northwich {{Infobox UK place , static_image_name = Northwich - Town Bridge.jpg , static_image_caption = Town Bridge, the River Weaver and the spire of Holy Trinity Church , official_name = Northwich , country ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

and produced their first soda ash in 1874. In 1911 it acquired soap and fat manufacturer

Joseph Crosfield and Sons Joseph Crosfield (5 October 1792 – 16 February 1844) was a businessman who established a soap and chemical manufacturing business in Warrington, which was in the historic county of Lancashire and is now in the ceremonial county of Cheshire. T ...

and Gossage, another soap company that owned palm plantations. A few years later it sold the soap and chemical businesses to

Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy drink, t ...

. In 1917, the company's

trinitrotoluene Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reage ...

(TNT) factory in Silvertown, London exploded having caught fire. In 1924 Brunner Mond acquired the Magadi Soda Company of

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

and in 1926 Brunner Mond was one of the four main companies – along with

British Dyestuffs Corporation British Dyestuffs Corporation Ltd was a British company formed in 1919 from the merger of British Dyes Ltd with Levinstein Ltd. The British Government was the company's largest shareholder, and had two directors on the board. Background By 1913, ...

, Nobel's Explosives Limited, and the

United Alkali Company United Alkali Company Limited was a British chemical company formed in 1890, employing the Leblanc process to produce soda ash for the glass, textile, soap, and paper industries. It became one of the top four British chemical companies merged in ...

– which took part in the merger which created the massive industrial combine

Imperial Chemical Industries Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) was a British chemical company. It was, for much of its history, the largest manufacturer in Britain. It was formed by the merger of four leading British chemical companies in 1926. Its headquarters were at M ...

(ICI).

Alfred Mond Alfred Moritz Mond, 1st Baron Melchett, PC, FRS, DL (23 October 1868 – 27 December 1930), known as Sir Alfred Mond, Bt between 1910 and 1928, was a British industrialist, financier and politician. In his later life he became an active Zio ...

– son of Ludwig and Chairman of Brunner Mond – was a key figure along with Harry McGowan of Nobel's in bringing this merger about. The Brunner Mond business was absorbed into the Alkali Group of ICI, becoming one of the largest and most successful companies in the world (ICI acquired Crosfield and Gossage's chemicals business from Unilever in 1997.) The Alkali Group became the Alkali Division in 1951. This merging with the Runcorn-based General Chemicals Division in 1964 to form Mond Division. This became the Soda Ash Products (Group) of ICI Chemicals and Polymers from 1986 until divestment. Sandbach cemetery memorial plaque

During the early twentieth century the company built managers' and workers' houses in Hartford, Cheshire. In 1991, Brunner Mond Holdings Limited, rapidly listed, was formed by the British and Kenyan soda ash businesses of ICI. In 1998 this corporation gained the soda ash production capabilities of Akzo Nobel in

The Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

to form Brunner Mond B.V. This expanded, three-base, form was later re-acquired by its parent company. Brunner Mond acquired

British Salt British Salt Limited is a United Kingdom-based chemical company that produces pure white salt. The company is owned by Tata Chemicals Europe after a buy out from private equity company LDC in April 2010. It is based in Middlewich, Cheshire, emplo ...

, a Cheshire-based brine supplier, in 2010 for around £93 million. This vertical acquisition gave longer term raw commodity price certainty and an economy of transport distance for one of the company's largest factories. The company was bought by Tata Chemicals in 2006. In April 2011, Brunner Mond was re-branded Tata Chemicals Europe. In 2022, Tata Chemicals Europe set up the UK's first industrial-scale carbon capture and usage plant, which can capture 40,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per annum.

References

External links

Brunner Mond website

Magadi Soda website
{{Authority control Chemical companies of the United Kingdom Manufacturing companies of England Companies based in Cheshire British subsidiaries of foreign companies Northwich Manufacturing companies established in 1873 1873 establishments in England British companies established in 1873 Tata Chemicals

History

See also

References

External links