BX Plastics was a
plastics engineering and production company. The company was one of three subsidiaries of the
British Xylonite Company established by 1938. BX Plastics made
xylonite (also known as
celluloid
Celluloids are a class of materials produced by mixing nitrocellulose and camphor, often with added dyes and other agents. Once much more common for its use as photographic film before the advent of safer methods, celluloid's common present-day ...
or ivoride) and
Lactoid (also known as
casein
Casein ( , from Latin ''caseus'' "cheese") is a family of related phosphoproteins (CSN1S1, αS1, aS2, CSN2, β, K-casein, κ) that are commonly found in mammalian milk, comprising about 80% of the proteins in cow's milk and between 20% and 60% of ...
) at a plant to the south of
Brantham in Suffolk, on the north bank of the
River Stour across the river from
Manningtree in Essex. The company was liquidated in 1999.
History
The British Xylonite Company was established by English inventor
Daniel Spill in 1877, in collaboration with American investor Levi Parsons Merriam. It established factories at
Hackney Wick and
Homerton, in
East London, subsequently expanding to Brooklands Farm near Brantham in 1887 and
Hale End,
Walthamstow
Walthamstow ( or ) is a town within the London Borough of Waltham Forest in east London. The town borders Chingford to the north, Snaresbrook and South Woodford to the east, Leyton and Leytonstone to the south, and Tottenham to the west. At ...
in 1897.
By 1938 British Xylonite had established three subsidiaries - BX Plastics, Halex and Cascelloid. Halex was based in
Highams Park, Hale End, in
North London and made finished goods (including
table tennis balls). Cascelloid, based in
Leicester
Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...
and
Coalville, made toys and had been acquired in 1931. Cascelloid was later renamed
Palitoy
Palitoy was a British toy company. It manufactured some of the most popular toys in Britain, some original items and others under licence. Its products included Action Man, Action Girl, Action Force, Tiny Tears, Pippa (doll), Pippa, Tressy, Mainli ...
and sold to
General Mills
General Mills, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded ultra-processed consumer foods sold through retail stores. Founded on the banks of the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in ...
in 1968 and then to
Tonka
Tonka is an American brand and former manufacturer of toy trucks. The company was founded in 1946 and operated as an independent manufacturer of popular steel toy construction type trucks and machinery, until its sale to Hasbro in 1991.
Histor ...
1987, which was acquired by
Hasbro
Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment holding company founded on December 6, 1923 by Henry, Hillel and Herma ...
in 1991.
Distillers acquired a 50% interest in BX Plastics in 1939. Distillers then acquired the rest of the British Xylonite group in 1961, merging it into a 50:50 joint venture with
Union Carbide's
Bakelite
Bakelite ( ), formally , is a thermosetting polymer, thermosetting phenol formaldehyde resin, formed from a condensation reaction of phenol with formaldehyde. The first plastic made from synthetic components, it was developed by Belgian chemist ...
company in 1962 to form Bakelite Xylonite in 1963. Distillers sold its 50% interest to BP in 1967, and Union Carbide's European interests were acquired by
BP in 1978, including the remaining Bakelite Xylonite plants.
The Brantham site had been sold in 1966 to ''British Industrial Plastics'', a subsidiary of
Turner & Newall, who were in turn acquired ''Storey Brothers'' of Lancaster in 1977. The company became
Wardle Storeys in 1984. The site finally closed in 2007.
Research
BX Plastics established a research department at Lawford Place, a manor house in nearby
Lawford, south of Manningtree in Essex.
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...
worked there as a research chemist from 1947 to 1951, before her marriage to
Denis Thatcher and subsequent career change to become a tax barrister and then a politician. The company held several patents on plastic products and manufacturing processes in the 1960s.
The house was damaged by a fire and remained unoccupied for many years, but received a Grade II listing in 1980. It was refurbished as part of a residential development in 2009.
Former workplace of Baroness Margaret Thatcher converted to exclusive new address on the edge of Constable country
Hopkins Hones, 23 April 2009
References
{{Authority control
Plastics companies of the United Kingdom