Bodycote plc is a supplier of

heat treatment Heat treating (or heat treatment) is a group of industrial process, industrial, thermal and metalworking, metalworking processes used to alter the physical property, physical, and sometimes chemical property, chemical, properties of a material. ...

metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...

joining,

hot isostatic pressing Hot isostatic pressing (HIP) is a manufacturing process, used to reduce the porosity of metals and increase the density of many ceramic materials. This improves the material's mechanical properties and workability. The process can be used to pro ...

and

coating A coating is a covering that is applied to the surface of an object, usually referred to as the substrate. The purpose of applying the coating may be decorative, functional, or both. Coatings may be applied as liquids, gases or solids e.g. Pow ...

s services. Based in Macclesfield,

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, it is 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 P ...

and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

History

The Company was founded by Arthur Bodycote in

Hinckley Hinckley is a market town in south-west Leicestershire, England. It is administered by Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council. Hinckley is the third largest settlement in the administrative county of Leicestershire, after Leicester and Loughbo ...

in 1923 as a

textile Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

business under the name of ''G.R. Bodycote Ltd''. It was acquired by

Slater Walker Slater Walker was a British industrial conglomerate turned bank that got into financial difficulties in the 1970s. It specialised in corporate raids. Its fall shook the British banking system at the time, and it had to be bailed out by the Bank of ...

in 1951 and demerged from them in 1973. It refocused on its present activities in the 1970s, particularly in bullet-proof and

flame retardant The term flame retardants subsumes a diverse group of chemicals that are added to manufactured materials, such as plastics and textiles, and surface finishes and coatings. Flame retardants are activated by the presence of an ignition source and ...

clothing in the specialist materials sector. From 1979 onwards it made a series of acquisitions, the first of which was Blandburgh, a

business. In 1980 it went on to buy ''Zinc Alloy Rust Proofing Ltd'', which was the beginning of its metallurgical coatings business. In 1990 Bodycote acquired ''Metallurgical Testing Services Ltd'' (MTS) of

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

from Murray International plc, laying the foundations for what would become Bodycote's

materials testing Materials testing is used to assess product quality, functionality, safety, reliability and toxicity of both materials and electronic devices. Some applications of materials testing include defect detection, failure analysis, material development ...

business. In 2008 the materials testing division was sold to private ownership leading to the founding of the testing company

Exova Exova Group plc was a laboratory-based testing company, operating primarily within the Testing segment of the Testing Inspection and Certification (“TIC”) sector. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until it was acquired by Element Mat ...

. In 1991 it bought ''HIP Ltd'', a leading Hot Isostatic Processing business. In 2001 the Company bought ''Lindberg Corporation'', the largest

business in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. The company changed its name from Bodycote International plc to Bodycote plc in April 2008.

Operations

The Company has two divisions: * The Aerospace, Defence & Energy (ADE) business division serves the

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 astr ...

defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indus ...

, power generation and

oil and gas A fossil fuel is a hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the remains of dead plants and animals that is extracted and combustion, burned as a fuel. The main fossil fuels are coal, petroleum, oil, and natura ...

industries. * The Automotive & General Industrial (AGI) business division serves the automotive,

construction Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form Physical object, objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Pr ...

, machine building,

medical Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practic ...

and

transportation Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipeline, ...

industries.

References

External links

Yahoo profile
{{Authority control Business services companies of the United Kingdom Companies based in Cheshire Technology companies established in 1923 Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange Macclesfield 1923 establishments in England