Cape plc is a British energy services company based in West Drayton,

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

. It was acquired by Altrad in September 2017.

History

The company was founded in 1893 as the ''Cape Asbestos Company'' with the objective of mining

asbestos Asbestos ( ) is a group of naturally occurring, Toxicity, toxic, carcinogenic and fibrous silicate minerals. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous Crystal habit, crystals, each fibre (particulate with length su ...

in the

Orange Free State The Orange Free State ( ; ) was an independent Boer-ruled sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeated and surrendered to the British Em ...

and importing it into European countries where it could be woven into fire-resistant materials. By 1913 it had four factories in the

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

area including a facility in Barking and in 1939 it opened a manufacturing facility at Acre Mill near

Hebden Bridge Hebden Bridge is a market town in the Calderdale district of West Yorkshire, England. It is in the Upper Calder Valley, west of Halifax and 14 miles (21 km) north-east of Rochdale, at the confluence of the River Calder and the Hebden W ...

to meet the demand for

gas mask A gas mask is a piece of personal protective equipment used to protect the wearer from inhaling airborne pollutants and toxic gases. The mask forms a sealed cover over the nose and mouth, but may also cover the eyes and other vulnerable soft ...

filters made from blue asbestos during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In 1976 it established a scaffolding division and in the late 1970s it developed asbestos-free products such that by 1980 it had become the world's foremost supplier of asbestos-free protection and insulation board. Although it had a full listing during the 1980s it was at that time 67.3% owned by Charter Consolidated plc. In 1990, the company was involved in an important

UK company law British company law regulates corporations formed under the Companies Act 2006. Also governed by the Insolvency Act 1986, the UK Corporate Governance Code, European Union Directive (European Union), Directives and court cases, the company is th ...

case, ''

Adams v Cape Industries plc ''Adams v Cape Industries plc'' 990Ch 433 is a UK company law case on separate legal personality and limited liability of shareholders. The case also addressed long-standing issues under the English conflict of laws as to when a company would ...

'', concerning

separate legal personality In law, a legal person is any person or legal entity that can do the things a human person is usually able to do in law – such as enter into contracts, sue and be sued, own property, and so on. The reason for the term "''legal'' person" is t ...

and

limited liability Limited liability is a legal status in which a person's financial Legal liability, liability is limited to a fixed sum, most commonly the value of a person's investment in a corporation, company, or joint venture. If a company that provides limi ...

of shareholders for asbestos related injuries. A subsequent related case in 2012, ''

Chandler v Cape plc ''Chandler v Cape plc'' [2012EWCA Civ 525is a decision of the Court of Appeal which addresses the availability of damages for a tort victim from a parent company, in circumstances where the victim suffered industrial injury during employment by ...

'', also involved the company. It transferred from a full listing to the Alternative Investment Market in 2002 in a bid to cut costs and it reached a settlement in 2003 to pay £7.5 million to 7,500 claimants from South Africa who had been seeking compensation over many years for asbestos-related health problems. In 2006 it established a £40 million fund for claimants based in the UK. In 2006 it bought DBI, an industrial cleaning specialist based in the UK, and in 2007 it acquired PCH, a scaffolding and hoist company based in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. In June 2011 it was transferred back to a full listing from the Alternative Investment Market and was restructured in such a way that it was ultimately

Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

-registered. The company was acquired by Altrad for £332 million in September 2017. In 2023, MPs and asbestos victim campaigners in the UK called on Cape to provide a £10m donation towards

mesothelioma Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that develops from the thin layer of tissue that covers many of the internal organs (known as the mesothelium). The area most commonly affected is the lining of the lungs and chest wall. Less commonly the lini ...

research. This is due to documents released after a long running court battle showing Cape "provided misleading reassurance about the dangers of asbestos". Labour MP

Ian Lavery Ian Lavery (born 6 January 1963) is a British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who has served as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Blyth and Ashington (UK Parliament constituency), Blyth and Ashingto ...

, chair of the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on occupational safety and health, and the group’s other members, said: "Knowing the links between the products made by your company, the role of Cape in knowingly putting more people in danger, and the devastating consequences, we appeal to your company to make this donation. Mesothelioma is always terminal, and Britain has the highest rates of anywhere in the world."

Operations

Cape provides "non-mechanical" multi-disciplined integrated support services covering such disciplines as access, scaffolding, insulation, coatings, passive fire protection, refractory linings, environmental services, oil and gas storage tanks and heat exchanger replacement and refurbishment, project management and other essential services to major industrial clients in the energy sector.

References

External links

Official site
* {{Authority control Companies based in the London Borough of Hillingdon British companies established in 1893 Energy companies of the United Kingdom Asbestos Energy companies established in 1893 Former defence companies of the United Kingdom 2017 mergers and acquisitions