TI Group plc (formerly "Tube Investments") was a holding company for specialised

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

companies. It was based in

Abingdon, Oxfordshire Abingdon-on-Thames ( ), commonly known as Abingdon, is a historic market town and civil parish in the ceremonial county of Oxfordshire, England, on the River Thames. Historically the county town of Berkshire, since 1974 Abingdon has been admin ...

. It was registered as ''Tube Investments'' in 1919, combining the seamless steel tube businesses of Tubes Ltd, New Credenda Tube (later known as Creda), Simplex and

Accles & Pollock Accles & Pollock is a British tube manipulation company based in Oldbury, West Midlands. History The company was started in 1896 by James George Accles as Accles Ltd, based at Holford Mill in Perry Barr in Birmingham as a producer of cold-drawn ...

Reynolds Tube Reynolds Technology is a manufacturer of tubing for bicycle frames and other bicycle components based in Birmingham, England established in 1898. History The Reynolds Tube Company was founded in 1898 by John Reynolds in Birmingham, England, b ...

joined the group in 1928. Tube Investments was listed on the

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...

, and was a constituent of the

FTSE 100 Index The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, also called the FTSE 100 Index, FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the "Footsie" , is a share index of the 100 companies listed on the London Stock Exchange with (in principle) the highest market ...

. It was acquired by

Smiths Industries Smiths or Smith's may refer to: Companies * Smith Electric Vehicles, or Smith's, a manufacturer of electric trucks * Smith's Food and Drug, or Smith's, an American supermarket chain ** Smith's Ballpark, a baseball stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah, U ...

in the end of 2000.

History

The company was registered as ''Tube Investments'' in 1919, combining the seamless steel tube businesses of Tubes Ltd, New Credenda Tube (later known as Creda), Simplex and

joined the group in 1928.

Ivan Stedeford Sir Ivan Arthur Rice Stedeford GBE, (28 January 18979 February 1975) was a British industrialist and philanthropist. Stedeford was chairman and managing director of Tube Investments (T.I.) and one of Britain's leading 20th-century industrial ...

joined the company in 1928. He became

chief executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

in 1935, and

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

in 1944. In 1946, the company bought Swallow Coachbuilding Co. (1935) Ltd. and

Hercules Cycles The Hercules Cycle and Motor Company Limited was a British bicycle manufacturer founded on 9 September 1910 in Aston in England.Company registration 111679: Companies House – http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/ The name Hercules was chosen for ...

. In 1949, the company established

TI Cycles of India Tube Investments of India Limited (Initially established as TI Cycles of India Limited, Madras) is a Murugappa Group company that specializes in engineering, bicycles, metal formed products, and chains. It is based in Chennai. It was incorpo ...

as a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...

with the

Murugappa family The Murugappa family is an Indian Nagarathar ( Nattukottai Chettiar) family that owns and manages the Murugappa Group Murugappa Group is an Indian conglomerate founded in 1900. The Group has 28 businesses including nine companies listed on th ...

. The British Cycle Corporation subsidiary was formed in 1956, and consisted of

Armstrong Armstrong may refer to: Places * Armstrong Creek (disambiguation), various places Antarctica * Armstrong Reef, Biscoe Islands Argentina * Armstrong, Santa Fe Australia * Armstrong, Victoria Canada * Armstrong, British Columbia * Armstrong ...

Norman Cycles Norman Cycles was a British bicycle, autocycle, moped, and motorcycle manufacturer in Ashford, Kent, England. The company and its products are remembered today by the Norman Cycles Club at Willesborough Windmill, in Willesborough, Ashford. The ...

, Sun Cycles,

Phillips Cycles Phillips Cycles Ltd. was a British bicycle manufacturer based in Smethwick near Birmingham, England. Its history began early in the 20th century and ended in the 1980s by which time it had become part of Raleigh Industries, itself a part ...

and Hercules Cycles (no connection with the German Hercules company). TI subsidiary Swallow Coachbuilding Co. constructed the Swallow Doretti sports car in 1954 and 1955. The 'Aluminium War' from 1958 to 1959 was a fierce and successful battle to acquire

British Aluminium British Aluminium was an aluminium production company. It was originally formed as the British Aluminium Company Ltd on 7 May 1894 and was subsequently known as British Alcan Aluminium plc (1982-1996). History In the late 1880s and early 1890s, ...

. Raleigh Industries were acquired in 1960, bringing the Raleigh owned brands BSA Cycles, Humber, Triumph, Rudge, New Hudson, Sunbeam Three Spires and J. B. Brooks. The company bought kettle manufacturers

Russell Hobbs Russell Hobbs is a British manufacturer of household appliances. Formed in 1952 by William Russell and Peter Hobbs, it became the primary kettle maker in the United Kingdom marketplace in the 1960s. Subjected to many corporate acquisitions thr ...

in 1963, and Sir Ivan Stedeford retired as

and chief executive officer and became life president. The group bought Alfred Herbert Ltd in 1982. In 1986, Tube Investments acquired Houdaille, parent of John Crane and other industrial companies from

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts KKR & Co. Inc., also known as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., is an American global investment company that manages multiple alternative asset classes, including private equity, energy, infrastructure, real estate, credit, and, through its strate ...

; the non Crane divisions were sold back to KKR as IDEX. Tube Investments acquired

Armco Inc. AK Steel Holdings Corporation was a steelmaking company headquartered in West Chester Township, Butler County, Ohio. The company, whose name was derived from the initials of Armco, its predecessor company, and Kawasaki Steel Corporation, was a ...

's European Tubing business – Fulton (UK) and Bundy Corporation (USA) in 1987; Raleigh was sold that year to Derby International and Creda to GEC. TI Group bought Huron Products Industries (USA) in 1991, and

Dowty Group Dowty Group was a leading British manufacturer of aircraft equipment. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. The firm ceased operating as an individual entity following its acquisition by T ...

in 1992, and sold Accles & Pollock to Hay Hall Group in 1996. Over the next few years, the Group acquired Technoflow Tube Systems (Germany), Bundy Asia Pacific, S&H Fabricating and Engineering (USA), Kenmore Italiana (Italy), Walbro Corporation (USA), and Marwal (France). On 4 December 2000,

merged with TI Group. Smiths (thereafter renamed Smiths Group) divested

TI Automotive TI Fluid Systems is a British multinational company which develops, manufactures and supplies automotive fluid storage, carrying and delivery systems. The company serves the automotive aftermarket through Bundy, Walbro and Marwal brands. The compa ...

shortly after the merger was completed.

Operations

The three major divisions were: * John Crane International, manufacturer of mechanical seals, *Bundy Corporation, a tubing manufacturer and supplier to the refrigeration and automotive industries, and *

, an

aerospace Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astrona ...

company. The group also owned TI Creda, a manufacturer of domestic cookers, and owned TI Chesterfield Cylinders, a manufacturer of pressurised gas cylinders for companies such as BOC and

Air Products and Chemicals Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. is an American international corporation whose principal business is selling gases and chemicals for industrial uses. Air Products' headquarters is in Allentown, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley region of Pen ...

: the business was sold and the factory moved from

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

References

External links

History of the TI Group, from the company's former website on the Internet Archive
{{Authority control Defunct companies of the United Kingdom Engineering companies of the United Kingdom Cycle manufacturers of the United Kingdom Holding companies established in 1919 Companies based in Oxfordshire Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange Steel companies of the United Kingdom Technology companies established in 1919 1919 establishments in England Technology companies disestablished in 2000 2000 disestablishments in England Holding companies disestablished in 2000