L B Holliday & Co Ltd., dyestuffs manufacturers, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire - advert, c1920
Muck and brass! A fine, if somewhat dated even by 1920s publicity standards, illustration of some goddess of chemistry overseeing the transformation of coal into bright colours via the application of knowledge and science - oh, and that mucky plant out back! Holliday's was a well known name in the world of British dyestuffs production and this is the 'second coming' of the family name. The older concern, Read Holliday, had been amongst the pioneers of the synthetic dyestuffs industry, based on coal tar by-products, and was founded by Read Holliday in 1830. The story of the UK's dyestuffs and associated industries, including chemicals and explosives that are closely allied, is fascinating and long, suffice to say that much of the industry was effectively handed over to German companies so that when WW1 broke out there were serious issues as to the supplies of essential chemicals for explosives manufacturing and even for dying service uniforms . The Government became heavily involved through the Ministry of Munitions and they took sweeping powers to take control and when 'persuation' as to things such as mergers and combinations didn't always work amongst the rather fractious British industry, they swung behind the creation of British Dyes in 1915/16 based on purchase of Read Holliday's large plant in Huddersfield. In 1919, with postwar retrenchment in sight and with a market swamped with cheap German products thanks to repairations being part-paid in products, British Dyes merged with another old company, Levensteins of Blackley in Manchester as the British Dyestuffs Corporation. It never seemed to be a happy marriage but BDC did have important reseach chemists. The final outcome, again with some serious if behind the scenes political manoevering was the 1926 creation of ICI with BDC joining a failing United Alkali Company, bouyant Nobel Industries (explosives and chemicals) and the huge concern of Brunner, Mond.
Anyhow, I drift away from the fact that in 1916 the Holliday family got quite a lot of money from the sale to form British Dyes and Lionel Brook Holliday, the grandson, took his pot of money and set up his own dyestuffs factory just along the road! Nothing to say he couldn't, although British Dyes often muttered he took satff and knowledge with him! L B Holliday's did very well and, avoiding being acquired by ICI, became a large player in the industry in their own right. They finally sold out in 1982 to Yule, Catto, now known as Synthomer. The old Read Holliday/ICI plants have gone through many changes of wonership since ICI was dismembered although I suspect Syngenta still operate out of some of the old works.
L B Holliday & Co Ltd., dyestuffs manufacturers, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire - advert, c1920
Muck and brass! A fine, if somewhat dated even by 1920s publicity standards, illustration of some goddess of chemistry overseeing the transformation of coal into bright colours via the application of knowledge and science - oh, and that mucky plant out back! Holliday's was a well known name in the world of British dyestuffs production and this is the 'second coming' of the family name. The older concern, Read Holliday, had been amongst the pioneers of the synthetic dyestuffs industry, based on coal tar by-products, and was founded by Read Holliday in 1830. The story of the UK's dyestuffs and associated industries, including chemicals and explosives that are closely allied, is fascinating and long, suffice to say that much of the industry was effectively handed over to German companies so that when WW1 broke out there were serious issues as to the supplies of essential chemicals for explosives manufacturing and even for dying service uniforms . The Government became heavily involved through the Ministry of Munitions and they took sweeping powers to take control and when 'persuation' as to things such as mergers and combinations didn't always work amongst the rather fractious British industry, they swung behind the creation of British Dyes in 1915/16 based on purchase of Read Holliday's large plant in Huddersfield. In 1919, with postwar retrenchment in sight and with a market swamped with cheap German products thanks to repairations being part-paid in products, British Dyes merged with another old company, Levensteins of Blackley in Manchester as the British Dyestuffs Corporation. It never seemed to be a happy marriage but BDC did have important reseach chemists. The final outcome, again with some serious if behind the scenes political manoevering was the 1926 creation of ICI with BDC joining a failing United Alkali Company, bouyant Nobel Industries (explosives and chemicals) and the huge concern of Brunner, Mond.
Anyhow, I drift away from the fact that in 1916 the Holliday family got quite a lot of money from the sale to form British Dyes and Lionel Brook Holliday, the grandson, took his pot of money and set up his own dyestuffs factory just along the road! Nothing to say he couldn't, although British Dyes often muttered he took satff and knowledge with him! L B Holliday's did very well and, avoiding being acquired by ICI, became a large player in the industry in their own right. They finally sold out in 1982 to Yule, Catto, now known as Synthomer. The old Read Holliday/ICI plants have gone through many changes of wonership since ICI was dismembered although I suspect Syngenta still operate out of some of the old works.