Nobel Enterprises () is a chemicals business that used to be based at Ardeer, in the Ayrshire town of

Stevenston Stevenston ( sco, Steenstoun, gd, Baile Steaphain) is a town and parish in North Ayrshire, Scotland. Along with Ardrossan and Saltcoats it is one of the "Three Towns", all of similar size, on the Firth of Clyde coast; the easternmost parts of ...

, in Scotland. Specialising in nitrogen-based

propellant A propellant (or propellent) is a mass that is expelled or expanded in such a way as to create a thrust or other motive force in accordance with Newton's third law of motion, and "propel" a vehicle, projectile, or fluid payload. In vehicles, the e ...

s and

explosive An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An expl ...

s and

nitrocellulose Nitrocellulose (also known as cellulose nitrate, flash paper, flash cotton, guncotton, pyroxylin and flash string, depending on form) is a highly flammable compound formed by nitrating cellulose through exposure to a mixture of nitric acid and ...

-based products such as

varnish Varnish is a clear transparent hard protective coating or film. It is not a stain. It usually has a yellowish shade from the manufacturing process and materials used, but it may also be pigmented as desired, and is sold commercially in various ...

es and

ink Ink is a gel, sol, or solution that contains at least one colorant, such as a dye or pigment, and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Ink is used for drawing or writing with a pen, brush, reed pen, or quill. Thi ...

s. It was formerly ICI Nobel, a division of the chemicals group ICI, but was then sold to Inabata, a Japanese trading firm. The business was sold on to

Chemring Group Chemring Group is a global business providing a range of advanced technology products and services to the aerospace, defence and security markets. Chemring has extensive operations in the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Asia. The company was ...

in 2005 and is now a Scottish Company (Chemring Energetics UK Ltd), part of Chemring Group.

History

Nobel Industries Limited was founded in 1870 by Swedish chemist and industrialist

Alfred Nobel Alfred Bernhard Nobel ( , ; 21 October 1833 – 10 December 1896) was a Swedes, Swedish chemist, engineer, inventor, businessman, and Philanthropy, philanthropist. He is best known for having bequeathed his fortune to establish the Nobel ...

for the production of the new explosive

dynamite Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and Stabilizer (chemistry), stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish people, Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern Germa ...

in the United Kingdom. The factory was overseen and run by

George McRoberts George McRoberts (1839–1896) was a Scottish chemist and early explosives expert. He assisted Alfred Nobel in establishing the original Nobel Enterprises dynamite factory at Ardeer. He was a close colleague of Nobel and probably a close friend ...

. McRoberts and John Downie raised the £24,000 needed to found the company rather than Nobel himself. It was chaired by the

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

shipbuilder, Charles Randolph (1809-1878). Ardeer, on the coast at

Ayrshire Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine and it borders the counties of Re ...

, was chosen for the company's first factory. The business later diversified into the production of blasting gelatine,

gelignite Gelignite (), also known as blasting gelatin or simply "jelly", is an explosive material consisting of collodion-cotton (a type of nitrocellulose or guncotton) dissolved in either nitroglycerine or nitroglycol and mixed with wood pulp and saltpe ...

ballistite Ballistite is a smokeless propellant made from two high explosives, nitrocellulose and nitroglycerine. It was developed and patented by Alfred Nobel in the late 19th century. Military adoption Alfred Nobel patented https://www.nobelprize.org/alf ...

guncotton Nitrocellulose (also known as cellulose nitrate, flash paper, flash cotton, guncotton, pyroxylin and flash string, depending on form) is a highly flammable compound formed by nitrating cellulose through exposure to a mixture of nitric acid and ...

, and cordite. At its peak, the factory employed nearly 13,000 men and women. In 1926, the firm merged with Brunner, Mond & Company, 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 ...

, and the

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, ...

, creating a new group,

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 ...

, then one of Britain's largest firms. Nobel Industries continued as the ICI Nobel division of the company. ICI Ardeer was commonly known locally as the 'factory' or the 'Dinnamite'. At the time the company generally provided higher quality employment regarding terms and conditions and pension rights than other local firms. At its peak, the site employed almost 13,000 workers in a fairly remote location. The Ardeer site was its own community with enough employees on site that a bank, a travel agency, and a dentist were located on the site. The former Western Scottish Bus Company provided tens of buses per day to transport the workers to and from the site, and there were even two trains per day to transport workers to a

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

within the factory which was used solely for workers and any special visitors with business in the ICI plant, and was never a regular passenger stop. Until the mid-1960s, there were two trains per day to transport workers. Although the line no longer serves the plant, the abandoned platform remains, hidden beneath dense undergrowth. The factory had its own jetty on the River Garnock in Irvine Harbour serving ships that were delivering explosives that had reached their exploration date, or importing raw materials for the works. In the late 1960s construction began on a

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 ...

and

nitric acid Nitric acid is the inorganic compound with the formula . It is a highly corrosive mineral acid. The compound is colorless, but older samples tend to be yellow cast due to decomposition into oxides of nitrogen. Most commercially available nitri ...

plant, but this had a short life, closing down just 12 years later. In 2002 the division, now named Nobel Enterprises, was sold to Inabata. On 8 September 2007 a major fire was reported at the site when 1,500-1,700 tons of nitrocellulose, stored in an open area, caught fire. There was little property damage and no serious injuries. The site is now a flourishing energetics (explosives) business employing some 300 people as the Scottish division of Chemring Group, an LSE Public Company.

References

* Dolan, John E. and Oglethorpe, Miles K. (1996). ''Explosives in the Service of Man: Ardeer and the Nobel Heritage''. Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. . * McSherry, R. & M. (1998). ''Old Stevenston'', Stenlake Publishing, Catrine. * Miles, F.D. (1955). ''A History of Research in the Nobel Division of I.C.I.''. Stevenston: Imperial Chemical Industries Limited, Nobel Division. * Reader, W.J. (1970). ''Imperial Chemical Industries. A History: Volume 1. The Forerunners 1870–1926. London: Oxford University Press.
BBC report of the 2007 fire
;Specific

External links

www.nobel-enterprises.com
the company's website *{{cite web , url=https://www.nobelprize.org/alfred_nobel/biographical/articles/dolan/ , title=Nobel in Scotland , author=John E. Dolan , publisher=nobelprize.org Alfred Nobel Chemical companies of Scotland Chemical companies of the United Kingdom Cordite Government munitions production in the United Kingdom Organisations based in North Ayrshire 1870 establishments in Scotland British companies established in 1870 Manufacturing companies established in 1870 Ardrossan−Saltcoats−Stevenston

History

See also

References

External links