Corporate History

1920s
The Celotex Company of Great Britain started trading in 1925 from offices located in Australia House in The Strand, London. The business was a subsidiary of its parent company, the Celotex Corporation of America, and soon established itself as an importer of bagasse fiberboard insulation from the original Celotex manufacturing plant in Marrero in the state of Louisiana, America.

1930s
By the 1930s sales in the UK were sufficiently high to encourage the Celotex Corporation to open a manufacturing plant in the UK at Stonebridge Park. By 1937 the Celotex Company of Great Britain was firmly established in the UK and had commenced manufacture at its new plant.

1940s
Increasing demand during this decade led to a requirement to source bagasse from alternative sources. Eventually a long term agreement was settled whereby Caroni (part of the Tate & Lyle Group) would suppy West Indian bagasse to Celotex Limited out of the sugar season.
In 1946 in a seemingly unrelated development a Mr. Jim Walter first started property development in the Tampa area of Florida. This would ultimately lead to the Jim Walter Corporation which went on to diversify into building materials, marble quarries, coal mining, and water pipelines.

1950s
The continued growth of Celotex Limited, fuelled by post war reconstruction work, led to the installation of a new insulating board line to meet growing demand. This was followed a few years later by the introduction of a new hardboard manufacturing line.

1960s
Throughout the early 1960s the Jim Walter Corporation founder Mr. Jim Walter had purchased enough shares in The Celotex Corporation of America to enable the Jim Walter Corporation to take control of the business (in 1963). In 1964 the Jim Walter Corporation bought out the outstanding shares of Celotex Limited and we became a wholly owned subsidiary of the Jim Walter Corporation.
In 1966 the decision was taken to close the Stonebridge Park factory. The 14 acre site was sold and a site at Hadleigh, Suffolk, was acquired. The new warehousing and distribution facility was opened in Hadleigh in 1968

1970s
In the early 1970s the Celotex Corporation of America introduced a new product line which was proving very popular. The product in question was an isocyanurate foam ceiling tile. This product led directly to the 1978 decision to invest in a new PIR foam board manufacturing line at Hadleigh, Suffolk which would ultimately enable Celotex to develop our current product range.

1980s
In 1980 the manufacture of rigid polyisocyanurate (PIR) foam insulation commenced at Hadleigh, which launched the Celotex double-R brand in the UK with Factory Mutual approval to highlight its excellent fire performance.
By 1985 the Jim Walter Corporation had grown phenomenally and now ranked among the two hundred largest industrial companies in the United States with $2.4 billion in annual sales and 25,000 employees.
In 1988 Jim Walter proposed a £4.8 million Management Buy Out of Celotex Limited from the Jim Walter Corporation with Mr. Jim Walter as the majority investor.

1990s
With the 1990s came a major recession in the UK Construction Industry and an all time peak in UK interest rates.
This decade also saw Celotex Limited acquire the Sundeala business out of administrative receivership for £3.2 million. The Sundeala brand dominated the market for pin boards in the education and healthcare sectors and came with the Sunbury-on-Thames site valued at around £5 million. This acquisition saw Celotex Limited well placed to face the challenges of the next Millennium.

2000s
In January of 2000 Mr. Jim Walter died and the option to acquire his shares was exercised by the minority shareholders.
In 2002 Celotex and Sundeala de-merged and the Celotex Head Office was relocated to the Hadleigh site purchased in 1968. This served to consolidate the manufacturing, warehousing commercial functions of the business on one site.
The introduction of Approved Document L of the Building Regulations 2002" served to almost double the UK market requirements for thermal insulation overnight. In 2004 another Management Buy Out provided investment capital for Celotex Limited to open a new 4,500 m² manufacturing and warehousing facility in Hadleigh to meet demand.
In 2006, Approved Document L of the Building Regulations was tightened still further as the Government worked to meet the European Energy Efficiency Directive aimed at tackling the problems of global warming and depletion of fossil fuels.
With The Code for Sustainable Homes now replacing Approved Document L, Celotex are still at the forefront of thermal insulation manufacturing with the launch of our new Celotex XR3000 PIR boards offering insulation thicknesses up to 200mm.