Avon Rubber plc is a manufacturer of high technology rubber products, principally components for a number of manufacturing sectors; its largest division produces components for the automative sector. Its headquarters is in the town of Bradford-on-Avon in Wiltshire, England.

History

In 1885 Messrs E G Browne and J C Margetson acquired a cloth mill, known as Avon Mill, on the banks of the River Avon at Limpley Stoke. The previous owners of the mill had originally been timber merchants, but had later diversified into the production of rubber goods.

By 1890 the business had transferred to premises in Melksham. Products at this time included solid tyres, conveyor belts and components for railways. By 1900 pneumatic tyres for bicycles were being produced, and by 1906 the first car tyres were advertised. In 1915 the company acquired Greenland Mill in Bradford_on_Avon. In 1933 the company was floated on the London Stock Exchange.

In 1956 the rival company of George Spencer Moulton (founded in 1848) was acquired, bringing with it Abbey Mills and Kingston Mills in Bradford on Avon, and a jointly owned plant in Paris. In 1959 production started on a range of inflatable boats.

In 1994 the marine buiness of Avon Inflatables, Ltd was split off and sold. The business still exists, but is no longer part of the group. In 1997 the tyre business was sold to Cooper Tire & Rubber Company of Findlay, United States, leaving the company to concentrate on its core businesses of automotive components and technical products.

External links

• Avon Rubber Website (http://www.avon-rubber.com/)