Vesuvius plc is a British engineered ceramics company headquartered in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

whose products are used by steelmakers and foundries as well as in the glass and solar energy industries. The company 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 Isaac Cookson in 1704 as a collection of metal and glass businesses on

Tyneside Tyneside is a built-up area across the banks of the River Tyne in northern England. Residents of the area are commonly referred to as Geordies. The whole area is surrounded by the North East Green Belt. The population of Tyneside as publishe ...

. In 1851 the Company diversified into

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

manufacturing. In 1924 it merged with ''Lock Lancaster'' and ''W.W. & R. Johnson & Sons'' to form ''Associated Lead Manufacturers''. It was first listed on the

in 1930.Cookson Group History
In 1966 it was renamed ''Lead Industries Group'' and in 1979 it acquired the ''A.J. Oster Company'', a non-ferrous metal producer. In 1982 it changed its name again to ''Cookson Group'' (reflecting the name of the company's founder) and in 1987 it bought the ''Vesuvius Crucible Company'', a ceramics supplier. Sir Robert Malpas was Chairman of the Group from 1991 to 1998, simultaneously serving as Co-Chairman of

Eurotunnel Getlink, formerly Groupe Eurotunnel, is a European public company based in Paris that manages and operates the infrastructure of the Channel Tunnel between England and France, operates the Eurotunnel Shuttle train service, and earns revenue o ...

from 1996 to 1998. In 2005 the Cookson Group chose to focus on high technology products and emerging markets. In 2008 it went on to acquire ''Foseco'', a supplier to the foundry and steel industries. In December 2012 Cookson Group changed its name to Vesuvius, the former performance materials division was demerged to form a new company called

Alent Alent plc is a supplier of surface treatment plating chemicals and electronics assembly materials. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index until it was acquired by Platform Specialty Products ...

and the name Cookson ceased to be used.

Operations

The Company's operations are formed into four activities: Steel Flow Control, Foundry Technologies, Advanced Refractories and Precious Metals Processing.

References

External links

Official siteYahoo profile
{{Authority control Engineering companies of the United Kingdom Manufacturing companies based in London Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange Companies established in the 18th century Companies established in 1704 1704 establishments in England Manufacturing companies established in 1704