TI Group
Encyclopedia
TI Group plc was a holding company for specialised engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...

 companies. It was based in Abingdon, Oxfordshire
Abingdon, Oxfordshire
Abingdon or archaically Abingdon-on-Thames is a market town and civil parish in Oxfordshire, England. It is the seat of the Vale of White Horse district. Previously the county town of Berkshire, Abingdon is one of several places that claim to be Britain's oldest continuously occupied town, with...

. 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
Accles & Pollock is a British tube manipulation company based in Oldbury, West Midlands.The company started out life at Holford Mill in Birmingham and later moved to near by Oldbury and always listed itself as being in 'Oldbury, Birmingham'....

. In 1928 Reynolds Tube joined the group. Tube Investments was listed on the London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...

 and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index
FTSE 100 Index
The FTSE 100 Index, also called FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the footsie , is a share index of the 100 most highly capitalised UK companies listed on the London Stock Exchange....

. It was acquired by Smiths Group
Smiths Group
Smiths Group plc is a global engineering company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It has operations in over 50 countries and employs around 23,550 staff....

 in 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 Accles & Pollock
Accles & Pollock
Accles & Pollock is a British tube manipulation company based in Oldbury, West Midlands.The company started out life at Holford Mill in Birmingham and later moved to near by Oldbury and always listed itself as being in 'Oldbury, Birmingham'....

. Reynolds Tube joined the group in 1928 .

Ivan Stedeford
Ivan Stedeford
Sir Ivan Arthur Rice Stedeford, GBE was a British industrialist and philanthropist.Stedeford was Chairman and Managing Director of Tube Investments and one of Britain's leading 20th-century industrialists....

 joined the company in 1928. He became chief executive in 1935 and chairman in 1944. In 1946, the company bought Swallow Coachbuilding Co. (1935) Ltd.

The British Cycle Corporation subsidiary was formed in 1946 and eventually held Phillips 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 of the Tube Investments group. For a number of years, the...

, Hercules Cycles
Hercules Cycle and Motor Company
For the German Bicycle and Motorcycle manufacturer see: Hercules Fahrrad GmbH & CoThe Hercules Cycle and Motor Company Limited was a British bicycle manufacturer founded on 9 September 1910 in Aston in England....

 (no connection with the German Hercules company), Armstrong, Rudge-Whitworth, Norman Cycles
Norman Cycles
Norman Cycles was a British bicycle, autocycle, moped, and motorcycle manufacturer based in Ashford, Kent, England.The company and its products are remembered today by the Norman Cycles Club which is based at Willesborough Windmill, in Willesborough, Ashford...

 and Sun Cycles
Sun (motorcycle)
The Sun Cycle & Fittings Co. Ltd. was an English manufacturer of motorcycles, mopeds and bicycles. The company was based in Aston, Birmingham.The company was founded as James Parkes & Son, a brass foundry producing lamp fittings and various other products...

.

The Aluminium War in 1958-9 was a fierce and successful battle to acquire British Aluminium
British Aluminium
The aluminium producer British Aluminium Ltd was originally formed as the British Aluminium Company Ltd on 7 May 1894 and was subsequently known as British Alcan Aluminium Plc...

.

Raleigh Industries joined the group in 1960, bringing BSA Cycles
Birmingham Small Arms Company
This article is not about Gamo subsidiary BSA Guns Limited of Armoury Road, Small Heath, Birmingham B11 2PP or BSA Company or its successors....

 and J. B. Brookes. In 1963 the company bought Russell Hobbs
Russell Hobbs
Russell Hobbs is a manufacturer of household appliances based in Failsworth, Greater Manchester, England.-Formation:After working with REME in World War II and leaving in 1947 as a Major, Bill Russell , from High Wycombe, joined Morphy Richards and helped to design the pop-up toaster, the electric...

, kettle manufacturers, and Sir Ivan Stedeford
Ivan Stedeford
Sir Ivan Arthur Rice Stedeford, GBE was a British industrialist and philanthropist.Stedeford was Chairman and Managing Director of Tube Investments and one of Britain's leading 20th-century industrialists....

 retired as chairman and chief executive officer and became life president.

The Group bought Alfred Herbert Ltd
Alfred Herbert (company)
Alfred Herbert Ltd was one of the world's largest machine tool manufacturing businesses. It was at one time the largest British machine tool builder.-History:...

 in 1982. Raleigh was sold in 1987 to Derby International and Creda to GEC.

In 1987 Tube Investments acquired Armco Inc.
AK Steel Holding
AK Steel Corporation is an American steel company whose predecessor, Armco, was founded in 1899 in Middletown, Ohio. Today, the company's corporate headquarters is situated in West Chester, Ohio, after having moved from Middletown, Ohio, in August 2007.- Products :AK Steel's main products are...

's European Tubing business – Fulton (UK) and Bundy Corporation (USA); then in 1991 it bought Huron Products Industries (USA).

Dowty Group
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 but was acquired by TI Group in 1992.-History:...

 was bought in 1992 and in 1996 Accles & Pollock was sold to Hay Hall Group.

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 Smiths Group
Smiths Group
Smiths Group plc is a global engineering company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It has operations in over 50 countries and employs around 23,550 staff....

 merged with TI Group. The merger was completed and Smiths divested TI Automotive
TI Automotive
TI Automotive develops, manufactures and supplies automotive fluid storage, carrying and delivery systems. The company has 14,000 employees at 126 locations in 27 countries, and supplies all of the world's major automobile manufacturers...

 shortly afterwards.

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 Dowty Group, an aerospace
Aerospace
Aerospace comprises the atmosphere of Earth and surrounding space. Typically the term is used to refer to the industry that researches, designs, manufactures, operates, and maintains vehicles moving through air and space...

 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
BOC
BOC may refer toBanks:* Bank of Canada, Canada's central bank* Bank of China, a major state-owned bank in the People's Republic of China* Bank of Ceylon, a major government-owned commercial bank* Bank of Cyprus, a major cypriot financial institution...

 and Air Products: the business was sold and the factory moved from Chesterfield
Chesterfield
Chesterfield is a market town and a borough of Derbyshire, England. It lies north of Derby, on a confluence of the rivers Rother and Hipper. Its population is 70,260 , making it Derbyshire's largest town...

 to Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...

.

External links

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