History

The Dowlais Ironworks developed rapidly to meet the thirst for iron as Britain charged through the process of industrialisation, particularly under Josiah John Guest – later Sir John Guest – who took over the running of the company in 1807. During the Napoleonic Wars, Dowlais Ironworks supplied cannonballs to the British army and by the 1840s, had more than 7,300 employees manning 18 blast furnaces and producing almost 90,000 tons of iron a year.

But even as Dowlais Ironworks prospered, a giant shadow loomed over the company. The lease was due to expire on 1 May 1848 and Lord Bute, who had inherited ownership of the land, was determined that Guest should have to pay a heavy price for continuing his business. The terms were so severe that Guest judged that they would make the company unviable and began to run the business down.

But then Bute died suddenly at his home in Cardiff Castle. The trustees who took over his affairs entered new talks. On 21 April 1848, 10 days before the lease was due to expire, a new lease was agreed and Dowlais Ironworks was saved.

GKN and its antecedent companies have endured their share of crises, but never in its long history has the company come closer to extinction than in those dramatic weeks in 1848.

Sir John Guest was instrumental in this growth having worked hard to form close relationships with the emerging rail companies and the great Victorian engineers, most notably Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Dowlais iron was used in the construction of Brunel’s most famous railway enterprise: the Great Western Railway linking London’s new Paddington station with the west of England and South Wales. Brunel also used Dowlais as a supplier for many of his other projects, including the famous SS Great Britain – the first propeller-driven ocean-going iron ship and, at the time, the largest ship ever built.

Dowlais supplied iron rails to rail companies throughout Britain, but also exported them around the world. From the 1830s, rails were sold to the USA for use in the construction of the new railroads opening up America’s frontiers. Then in the 1840s, markets in Europe began to expand with major sales to Russia and Germany, and smaller sales across the continent. Lady Charlotte Guest described a contract made in 1844 to supply 50,000 tons of rail to Russia as, “the largest contract of the kind ever made.”

As a result, of the railway-led boom, Dowlais had, by 1845, become the largest ironworks in the world, and had helped transform the industrialising world.

At this crucial point, Lady Charlotte took the reins and led the business through three critical years. She was 40 years old when she became chairwoman of Dowlais – and the mother of 10 children. The advantage Lady Charlotte had was that she knew the business inside out, having immersed herself in it to support and advise her husband. She had drawn up the monthly accounts, been involved in planning and learned the principles of iron production.

She set about assembling a strong management team to support her son and heir, Lord Wimborne, and oversaw a programme of renovations. Under her management, Dowlais became the world’s largest manufacturing company and laid down plans for further expansion, including the sinking of coalmines to supply the works.

Lady Charlotte’s other claim to fame was as a translator. In order that she could speak with the workers, she had learned Welsh and in 1838 published a translation of the Mabinogion – a collection of ancient Welsh folk tales.

As ever, Dowlais was keen to adopt new methods and became the first British company to acquire a licence to produce steel using the Bessemer process in 1856. However, it was to take the best part of a decade of experimentation at Dowlais, under the guidance of William Menelaus, before a truly industrialised method for the production of steel was perfected.

Prior to its introduction, steel had been around 10 times more expensive than iron – making it far too expensive for use in railways, bridges or the frameworks of buildings. After the industrialisation of the Bessemer process, steel and wrought iron soon became similarly priced and most manufacturers quickly turned to steel. In 1871, Dowlais produced almost 26,000 tons of Bessemer steel; by 1884, it was producing more than 118,000 tons.

With steel production supplanting iron, Dowlais continued to grow through the second half of the century and, in 1888, built a second steelworks in South Wales, this time in Cardiff. The company had successfully evolved its business and entered the 20th century as one of the largest ironworks in the world.

By the late 1890s, Keen not only headed PNB but was also chairman of the Birmingham and Midland Bank. Keen believed that PNB had to integrate vertically up the production chain into steel, which was replacing iron as the raw material for fasteners. With his financial connections, he was perfectly positioned for the financial engineering necessary to fulfil his objective.

Through a contact, Keen learned that Lord Wimborne was ready to sell the Dowlais Iron Co. As Dowlais was larger than PNB, this would be a reverse takeover. Stretching his resources to the limit, Keen agreed in September 1899 to pay Wimborne £1.53m for Dowlais. He told his shareholders that the deal would “give the company a position of complete independence...enabling it to hold its own in competition with the whole world.”

In July 1900, the combination of Dowlais and PNB was incorporated into a new group, Guest, Keen & Co. Two years later, Keen drove through the takeover of a reluctant Nettlefolds Ltd and the enlarged company became Guest, Keen & Nettlefolds.

In 1905, GKN was the 15th largest British company – with assets of £4.54m – and the largest iron, steel and coal group in the country. In July 1912, it received royal recognition when King George V visited Dowlais.

After WW1, a new leader emerged from an unexpected source to give GKN fresh direction. H. Seymour Berry (later Lord Buckland) had built up a profitable coal-mining business with his business partner David Llewellyn. In 1919, they bought a controlling interest in the steel-making group John Lysaght Ltd and then acquired Joseph Sankey & Sons, which was established as a supplier of wheels, chassis frames and bodies to Britain’s new motor industry.

Three months later, they proposed a merger to the GKN board. Lysaght was merged into the larger GKN, but Berry and Llewellyn became the group’s driving forces.

This new GKN contained most of the elements that would sustain it through the Great Depression and propel it through the next half-century: heavy steel-making; steel-processing; fasteners and other steel products; and motor components. But it did suffer one historic casualty: in 1936, the Dowlais works closed, bringing an end to 170 years of iron and steel-making.

When war broke out in 1939, GKN again made a full contribution. The Hadley Works produced Spitfires, Lysaghts assembled a specialised tank for the D-Day landings and the company produced steel, forgings and fasteners for tanks and aircraft, as well as millions of steel helmets.

The drawn out nationalisation saga encouraged GKN to explore new business avenues. It expanded its involvement across the newly independent countries of the British Commonwealth and became involved in a host of steel-related businesses, including vehicle components such as crankshafts and propeller shafts. Building on wartime experience, the company began production of the famous Warrior tank for the British Army.

GKN also expanded in the industrial services sector. In 1974, the group and the Australian company Brambles formed the GKN Chep pallet pool in the UK. Four years later, the venture expanded into mainland Europe and the group’s most successful industrial services business was on the road to international growth. The next major move was into waste disposal in 1981 when GKN and Brambles acquired Redland Purle (now known as Cleanaway) – a venture that also proved to be highly successful.

Chep and Cleanaway symbolised GKN’s growing diversification – a process that by the 1980s had led to involvement in a huge variety of industrial services ranging from plumbing and roofing to locks and window latches.

As GKN’s UK businesses struggled, Uni-Cardan – in which the group took majority control in 1971 – kept the company afloat. Nevertheless, in 1980 the group made the first loss in its history.

GKN fought through the downturn, laying down foundations for fresh growth: opening plants in the US, expanding in Europe and, crucially, forging close links with all of Japan’s leading vehicle makers.

A wave of global investments followed: in Brazil, Mexico, India, Australia, South Africa, Japan, Thailand, South Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan and, in 1989, China – as the driveline business created a global network and cemented its market leadership.

For almost 260 years, GKN has welcomed change, not feared it. It has never been afraid to innovate. It has always been practical: it has always been a proud company, but the pride has always been tempered by an immense realism. That is why it is still here. That is why GKN Aerospace occupies a unique place in global industrial history.

Today, GKN is established as one of the world’s leading aerospace suppliers: its technology features on everything from the Lockheed Martin F-35 to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, and even the latest Ariane 6 rocket – quite an achievement for a single South Wales ironworks. 

GKN Aerospace has become a strong focused tier one supplier with leading positions in Aero Engines and Speciality Aerostructures and attractive specialist positions in niche markets.  With 48 sites in 14 countries and 4 R&D centres, GKN Aerospace is a truly global partner to its worldwide customer base across 3 continents.