Scottish Enamelling Co. Ltd.
Sites & Monuments Record
| Foundry Loan, Larbert | NS 847 828 |
Timeline
1930: Founded as a subsidiary of Jones & Campbell Ltd. to apply porcelain and vitreous enamels. Shares were held in the name of an accountant to disguise the ownership in order to attract enamelling work from other local foundries. No member of the Jones family was a director in the early years. Frank Watson, the other main shareholder, was the managing director, with Willie Shaw as works manager and Gillespie in charge of sales. The works were fully operational by early 1932.
1936: The sheet iron section of the Larbert Art Metal Co purchased and Sauchie gas cookers made for Glasgow Corporation. Embassy gas cookers and wash boilers were also produced, the latter cast next door at Jones & Campbell.
1938: Jones & Campbell took over their shares from the nominee. Peter Jones became chairman, with James Bruce Jones and Forbes Jones as directors. By this time four furnaces were operating – two for cast iron, one for sheet steel and one for annealing castings.
1940: Large order for machining artillery shells from the Ministry of Supply. Buildings upgraded and new machinery installed. Further contracts extended this work until June 1945.
1946: In the boom years after the war, gas cookers were made for Glasgow Corporation and the Scottish Gas Board. To keep pace with demand the enamelling capacity was increased in 1951.
1954: Demand slumped suddenly and cooker production ended in 1956.
1966: Willie Shaw died and Mrs Robb became works manager.
1976: Works closed and jobs transferred to Jones & Campbell.
Products
Embassy enamelled gas cooker; wash boilers.
Falkirk Local History Society 