George Cohen, Sons and Company was a scrap metal merchant with offices in

Commercial Road Commercial Road is a street in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in the East End of London. It is long, running from Gardiner's Corner (previously the site of Gardiners department store, and now Aldgate East Underground station), through ...

, London. The company was founded by George Henry Cohen (d.1890) as Messrs. George Cohen & Co. in 1834 and changed its name to George Cohen, Sons and Co. in 1883 on the appointment of Michael Cohen, son of the founder. After the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

the company won a number of large contracts to dispose of surplus munitions including "400,000 tons of high explosives and other shells". The company also engaged in demolition work, with projects including the towers of

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

, which had survived the great fire, the

Dome of Discovery The Dome of Discovery was a temporary exhibition building designed by architect Ralph Tubbs for the Festival of Britain celebrations which took place on London's South Bank in 1951, alongside the River Thames. The consulting engineers were Fr ...

and

Skylon Skylon may refer to: * Skylon (Festival of Britain), a landmark structure of the 1951 Festival of Britain * Skylon (spacecraft), a proposed orbital spaceplane * Skylon Tower, an observation tower in Niagara Falls, Ontario * ''Skylon'' (album), a 20 ...

at the Festival of Britain, and London's

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

system. In 1940 the company moved its head offices to

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. ...

. In 1956 a holding company, 'The George Cohen 600 Group Limited', was formed to control the original company and its many subsidiaries. The '600 Group' name, derived from the company first address, 600 Commercial Road, had been in informal use since 1945 or earlier. In 1970 the '600 Group' set up a joint venture, 'Six Hundred Metal Holdings', with

Thorn Electrical Industries Thorn Electrical Industries Limited was a British electrical engineering company. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange, but merged with EMI Group to form Thorn EMI in 1979. It was de-merged in 1996 and became a constituent of the FTSE 100 In ...

to operate the two companies' metal-handling businesses. In 1975 the company name was changed to 'The 600 Group Limited', and in 1981 to 'The 600 Group PLC'. In 1987 George Cohen, Sons and Company was renamed to GCS (Steels) Limited, part of the 600 Group. The scrap metal business was acquired by Monks Ferry (Ship Breaking) Ltd. of St. Helens near Warrington in Merseyside.. The head office of GCS Steels was based at Stanningley Works, off Town Street in Stanningley Leeds. This site operated up until its closure in 1999. The site covered approximately of land and had also been the base of several other companies that operated under the banner of the 600 Group. In the heyday of the metals trades the site had its own siding to transport large quantities of steel products. In 2013 GCS Steels (Gosport) closed, and GCS Steels became a subsidiary of Pyramid Trading Limited.

Subsidiary companies

The following companies were members of the '600 Group' at some time. This information was obtained from the company's annual reports published in ''The Times'' newspaper.

Raw Materials Division

* George Cohen and Armstrong Disposal Corporation, formed June 1923 jointly with Sir W. G. Armstrong, Whitworth, and Co. to dispose of government surplus stock. The liquidation process ended in 1927. * Pollock Brown & Co. Ltd., scrap merchants, reported 1957 * Westbourne Park Coal & Iron Co. Ltd., reported 1957 * Southall & Hayes Coal & Iron Co. Ltd., reported 1957 * George Cohen Australia Scrap Co., registered 1960 * Proler Cohen, scrap processing,

Willesden Willesden () is an area of northwest London, situated 5 miles (8 km) northwest of Charing Cross. It is historically a parish in the county of Middlesex that was incorporated as the Municipal Borough of Willesden in 1933, and has formed ...

, set up 1966. Run by 600 Ferrous Fragmentisers Ltd. The Proler process, licensed from the Proler Steel Corporation of Houston, Texas, was not immediately successful but was working by the end of 1969.

Steel Foundry Division

* K & L Steelfounders And Engineers Limited.,

Letchworth Letchworth Garden City, commonly known as Letchworth, is a town in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. It is noted for being the first garden city. The population at the time of the 2011 census was 33,249. Letchworth ...

, founded 1915 as Kryn & Lahy,A sign of the times
(interview with Phil Lomax), ''Cranes & Access'', July 2011 acquired May 1928, manufacturers of Jones Mobile and Railway Cranes. A new factory at Halstead, Essex opened 1958. Company renamed as Jones Cranes Limited in 1968. ** K. & L. subsidiary in Toronto, opened 1953 * T. C. Jones & Co. Limited,

Wood Lane Wood Lane (A219 road, A219, formerly A40 road, A40) is a street in London. It runs north from Shepherd's Bush, under the Westway (London), Westway (A40) past Wormwood Scrubs where it meets Scrubs Lane. The road is wholly in the London Borough of ...

, structural engineers (noted in 1947). Factory at Treorchy, Glamorganshire built 1947. Reinforcement works, Neasden, opened Dec 1955. * Dunlop & Ranken, Leeds, steel merchants, acquired Jan 1956, sold to

British Steel Corporation British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

1980 * New London Electron Works Ltd., powder metallurgy, noted 1953 * Western Metallurgical Industries Ltd., Neath, noted 1953 * F. J. Edwards Ltd., London, acquired 1966 * Barnes & Bell, Glasgow, steel stockholders, acquired 1967 * Jones Reinforcement, spun off from T. C. Jones in 1969

Machinery Division

* Campbell Gas Engine Co. Ltd., acquired 1928 * Messrs. Estler Brothers, Ltd., London, metal workers, acquired 1936 * Works,

Hebburn-on-Tyne Hebburn is a town in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, England. It governed under the borough of South Tyneside; formerly governed under the county of Durham until 1974 with its own urban district council, urban district from 1894 until ...

, noted 1947 * Colchester Lathe Co., acquired 1954 * Colchester Machinery Corporation Ltd., Toronto, mentioned 1957, shut down 1961 * Colchester Werkzeugmaschinen GmbH, set up 1958 * Gamet Products Ltd., Colchester, precision bearings, reported 1956 * Midgley and Sutcliffe Ltd., drilling machines, acquired 1954 * Selson Machine Tool Co., Ltd., London NW10, mentioned 1953-1957 * Henry Osman & Co. Ltd., drainage engineers, reported 1956-7 * Browett, Lindley & Co, compressors (noted 1947) * Coborn, engines, noted 1947 * Metalclad, Limited,

Neath Neath (; cy, Castell-nedd) is a market town and Community (Wales), community situated in the Neath Port Talbot, Neath Port Talbot County Borough, Wales. The town had a population of 50,658 in 2011. The community of the parish of Neath had a po ...

and

Stanningley Stanningley is a district of Pudsey, West Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately west of Leeds city centre on the A647 road, the original main road from Leeds to Bradford. The appropriate Leeds Metropolitan Ward is Bramley, Leeds, Bra ...

, woodworking machinery, reported 1947; iron foundry at Morriston noted 1953 * Machinery Works,

Kingsbury Kingsbury may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Kingsbury, London, a district of northwest London in the borough of Brent ** Kingsbury tube station, London Underground station * Kingsbury, Warwickshire, a village and civil parish in Warwickshi ...

, noted 1947 * F. Burnerd & Co., Ltd., (est. c. 1913), precision chucks, noted 1953 * Machine Tool Works, Stockport, acquired 1958 * G. Beaton & Son Ltd., vehicle component manufacturers, acquired 1958 * Richmond Machine Tool Co. Ltd., mentioned 1963 * W. E. Sykes, machine tools, acquired 1966 * George Cohen Machinery, mentioned in ''The Times'' in 1967 as 'the largest plant hire firm in the country' * John A. Dick Holdings, owners of British Hoist & Crane Co., acquired 1967 * Six Hundred South Africa (Pty), Johannesburg, expanded 1967 * Jones Cranes Limited formed in 1938, from crane business of K. & L. Steelfounders. Closed in the 1990s. Successful revival in 2005 by a Sussex-based private engineering company. * Dickson (Engineering), acquired 1970

After the Thorn merger, 1970

* Six Hundred Metal Holdings, joint-owned by

, set up 1970 * T. S. Harrison & Sons, lathes, acquired 1971 * Startrite Engineering, acquired 1981 * F. Pratt Engineering, lathe chucks, acquired 1981 * 600 Fanuc Robotics, Colchester, partnership with Fujitsu, 1983 * Industrial Distribution Group of Clausing Corp., acquired 1985 * Electrox lasers, acquired 198

* 600 Machine Tools, 600 Electrox Laser, and 600 Technologies divisions formed in 200

* Colchester-Harrison, formed 200

* Ealing Electro Optics plc, acquired 198

* Metal Muncher, USA, 200

Chairmen

As George Cohen, Sons & Co. Ltd.

* a.1920-1928 George Levy (joined in 1908) * 1928-1947 Lawrence Levy (1823–1907) * 1947-Dec 1967 Cyril M. Cohen (grandson of founder)

As 600 Group

* Dec 1967-Apr 1987 Jack Alfred Wellings (b. 1917; knighted 1975 for services to export) * Apr 1987-Dec 31, 1992 Jeffrey Benson * Jan 1, 1993-2006 Michael WrightAppointment at 600 Group
, Construction News Nov 12, 1992 * 2007-2011 Paul Temple * 2011- Paul Dupee

Bibliography

* C.E.G. Nye ''et al.'', ''One Hundred Years 1834-1934, George Cohen Sons and Company Limited'', Robert Maclehose & Co Ltd, Glasgow, Nov. 1934 * Wellings, Jack, ''600 Makes It!'', The 600 Group Plc, 1983

References

{{reflist Engineering companies of the United Kingdom Machine tool builders