Bodycote is committed to maintaining and managing a cost effective service of the highest standard in conjuction with internal and relevant external Quality standards. Top management is committed to continual improvement within the standards adopted,investment in people,and the latest technology and equipment.
2003 saw the 80th anniversary of Bodycote, a name that is now synonymous with metallurgical services to industry but, in fact, the company began life in a very different field of expertise and has a colourful history. A New Direction
1979 marked the real turning point for Bodycote — a new Group strategy was needed, to provide sustainable good quality earnings. The decision was taken to reconstruct the Group so as to move from textile manufacturing toward service type industries. The latter would enable us to have a positive cash flow, generate sufficient funds to pay for capital investment, and be able to support a progressive dividend policy. This radical switch from manufacturing to service businesses was to be achieved by means of tactical acquisitions. These were to be based upon clear criteria: a service industry with a capital intensive, dynamic technology, high barriers to entry and a skilled and flexible workforce, capable of generating positive cash flow and attractive returns on invested capital from lower levels of working capital than had been required previously.
The Foundation of the Strategic Business Units (SBUs)
Bodycote identified a company that fitted the strategic criteria perfectly and in 1979 Bodycote acquired the heat treatment company, Blandburgh Limited, of Macclesfield. Founded in 1972, Blandburgh was relatively young but extremely successful and had grown rapidly from its origins in Macclesfield to three plants in the North West and Midlands. Its growth was soundly based upon a strategy of operating the largest and most technologically advanced furnaces, which provided efficiency, high quality levels and financial returns which were, and remain, unmatched by the competition. Blandburgh became the foundation for the future direction of Bodycote and forged the beginnings of the emerging Metal Technology division of Bodycote, which was destined to become the engine for the global expansion of later years.
In 1980 the company took the first steps into metallurgical coatings with the acquisition of Zinc Alloy Rust Proofing Ltd, whose plants in the North, Midlands and Wales provided the unique Sherardizing® service and zinc electroplating. The company's strategy for future growth was carefully controlled by John Chesworth, a director of Blandburgh, who joined the Bodycote board in 1981 and became Group Managing Director of Bodycote in 1993. John played a pivotal role in the transformation and expansion of the company.
The next acquisition was Nemo Heat Treatments in 1983. Established in 1964 in Stockport, Nemo had been the first UK company to offer vacuum heat treatment and brazing services to the engineering industry. A high quality client base, together with aerospace and defence quality accreditations laid the foundation for a viable business, although lack of profitability and financial resources had hindered the company's development. Shortly after these acquisitions, the heat treatment division of Bodycote was unified under the name of 'Blandburgh Nemo Limited'. The Group differentiated its services from its competition by quality-led marketing strategies which were recognised by the winning of the EIA and Natwest Bank Engineering Marketing Award in 1988. The heat treatment business unit of the Group grew with greenfield facilities at Corby, Chard, Birmingham and Macclesfield and further acquisitions in the UK.
In 1990 Bodycote acquired Metallurgical Testing Services Ltd (MTS) of Edinburgh, Scotland from Murray International plc, laying the foundations for what would become Bodycote's world-class Materials Testing business. The company had mapped out a strategy for substantial growth utilising its oil and gas experience into international markets and diversifying into aerospace, engineering and analytical services. Bodycote provided the vehicle for this expansion.
In 1991, Bodycote acquired Chesterfield based HIP Ltd and Infutec Ltd from Marshalls plc. This was a bold step into Hot Isostatic Pressing, a developing technology, the markets for which had still to be developed, but which benefited from market synergy with vacuum heat treatment services. The application of Bodycote management systems and marketing concepts resulted in a highly profitable business. Subsequently the North American market leader Industrial Materials Technology Inc. (IMT), with a subsidiary operation in Belgium, was acquired in 1992. This development resulted in Bodycote becoming the world leader in Hipping at the same time that the Group took its first step into the world's largest economy.
The four SBU's were now in place and Bodycote developed a growth strategy for them based upon organic growth and geographically strategic acquisitions. The last of the textile and packaging companies were sold in 1997. This was a typically busy year for Bodycote, with many of the acquired companies changing their names to the Bodycote business unit names by which they are now known, to leverage the market benefits of the Bodycote brand. Also, the new Bodycote International plc headquarters at Macclesfield opened and the new fully automated heat treatment plant at Macclesfield commenced production.
Heat Treatments, Hot Isostatic Pressing, Metalurgical Testing, and Metalurgical Coatings.
