|
| Company History |
|
| |
Our company was founded in 1921 by Mr. Lawrence Long.
Lawrence Long initially worked as a clerk for a company marketing Natural Brush Fibres called Lovdee & Co, in Birmingham England.
Lovdee & Co was founded by Mr. Arthur Rowbottam who is widely regarded as the discoverer of many of the Natural Fibres still in use today, and the pioneer of the fibre dressing business.
Arthur Rowbottam was succeeded in the business by his nephew, Bernard Moore. Mr Rowbottam continued to oversee the business until he was almost eighty years old. |
|
 |
| |
|
Lawrence Long - founder |
|
Lawrence Long then left Lovdee & Co and set up in his own business in 1921 in a very small way in a premises in Highgate, Birmingham. The business grew, and expanded into premises either side of the original buildings.
|
His daughter Doris and son Leslie joined Lawrence in the business in 1930 and 1934 respectively.
Lawrence died in 1947 and was succeeded by Doris and Leslie who continued to manage and run the business. They were joined some years later by their other sister, Rose.
The premises in Highgate was demolished and completely rebuilt into a purpose built new factory in 1958.
Doris continued to work until 1996, when at the age of 84 she was forced into retirement by a fall that resulted in a long stay in hospital.
|
Leslie Long passed away in November 2018 at the age of 98.
Leslie's son, Paul, joined the business in 1967 and was appointed a director in 1985. Paul's wife Jayne joined him in 1996 and took over administration and accounts.
In the summer of 2005, after much research, the decision was made to relocate the manufacturing facility to Sri Lanka.
The move made sense for a lot of reasons - many of our raw materials were produced in Sri Lanka and neighbouring countries, and it made a good geographical base to serve the needs of customers world wide. |
|
| |
Leslie Long |
|
The move was completed in October 2005 and a new workforce recruited.
Production continues in Sri Lanka to the present day, and the premises in England are now used for warehousing and distribution.
|
|
|
| |
| More recently we have also relocated our UK
offices and warehouse. We moved from our
Birmingham home of more than 85 years and into a
new premises 20 km away in Redditch, in the semi
rural county of Worcestershire. The new
warehouse had much better access for large
vehicles and is well placed for easy access to the
UK motorway system, for distribution in the UK,
Europe and to destinations worldwide.
Please check our "Contact" page for our new
mailing address, and telephone and fax numbers. |
|
| |
|
