IMI plc (), formerly Imperial Metal Industries Limited (1962–1968) and IMI Limited (1978–1981), is a British-based engineering company headquartered in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, England. It is listed on the

London Stock Exchange The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...

and is a constituent of the

FTSE 100 Index The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, also called the FTSE 100 Index, FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the "Footsie" , is the United Kingdom's best-known stock market index of the 100 most highly capitalised blue chips listed on ...

History

The company was founded by Scottish entrepreneur George Kynoch who opened a

percussion cap The percussion cap, percussion primer, or caplock, introduced in the early 1820s, is a type of single-use percussion ignition device for muzzle loader firearm locks enabling them to fire reliably in any weather condition. Its invention gave ...

factory in

Witton, West Midlands Witton is an inner city area in Birmingham, England, in the metropolitan county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands. It was within the ancient parish of Aston in the Hemlingford hundred (subdivision), hundred of the Counties of the Uni ...

in 1862, trading as ''

Kynoch Kynoch was a manufacturer of ammunition that was later incorporated into ICI, but remained as a brand name for sporting cartridges. History The firm of Pursall and Phillips operated a 'percussion cap manufactory' at Whittall Street, in Birmin ...

''. The business soon diversified, manufacturing goods ranging from soap and bicycle components to

non-ferrous metal In metallurgy, non-ferrous metals are metals or alloys that do not contain iron ( allotropes of iron, ferrite, and so on) in appreciable amounts. Generally more costly than ferrous metals, non-ferrous metals are used because of desirable pro ...

s, but by the early 20th century it had developed particular expertise in

metallurgy Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the ...

. After World War I it merged with Nobel Industries. In 1926 the company acquired Eley Brothers, an

ammunition Ammunition, also known as ammo, is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. The term includes both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines), and the component parts of oth ...

business. The company, by then known as ''Nobel Explosives'', was one of the four businesses that merged in 1927 to create

Imperial Chemical Industries Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) was a British Chemical industry, chemical company. It was, for much of its history, the largest manufacturer in Britain. Its headquarters were at Millbank in London. ICI was listed on the London Stock Exchange ...

. The Witton site became the head office of ICI Metals. 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 ...

the Witton site was used for the development and production of uranium for the

Tube Alloys Tube Alloys was the research and development programme authorised by the United Kingdom, with participation from Canada, to develop nuclear weapons during the Second World War. Starting before the Manhattan Project in the United States, the Bri ...

project. In the 1950s the company's researchers perfected the process for producing

titanium Titanium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resistant to corrosion in ...

on a commercial basis. In 1958 ICI Metals bought 50% of Yorkshire Imperial Metals: it acquired the other 50% four years later. The name ''Imperial Metal Industries Limited'' (IMI for short) was adopted on the 100th anniversary of the firm in 1962. The company was listed on the

in 1966. Initially ICI retained a majority holding, but in 1978 IMI became fully independent. In the 1990s the Company disposed of its more basic businesses such as metal smelting and metal founding. In 2003, IMI moved from the Witton site to new headquarters close to

Birmingham Airport Birmingham Airport , formerly ''Birmingham International Airport'', is an international airport located east-southeast of Birmingham city centre, west-northwest of Coventry slightly north of Bickenhill village, in the Metropolitan Bor ...

. The company announced in October 2013 that a decade-long programme of transformation had been completed with the disposal of two non-core subsidiaries to

Berkshire Hathaway Berkshire Hathaway Inc. () is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. Originally a textile manufacturer, the company transitioned into a conglomerate starting in 1965 under the management of c ...

for £690m. The disposal of the Cornelius Group, a beverage-dispensing machine business, together with the disposal of a marketing intelligence business, would enable the company to focus on its control valve making business. In November 2022, it was announced IMI had acquired the

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the River Ribble, Ribble Valley, east of Preston ...

-based smart thermostatic control manufacturer, Heatmiser, for £110 million.

Sectors

The company is involved in five sectors: *Process automation *Industrial automation *Climate control *Life science & fluid control *Transport

References

External links

*
An Unofficial History of Kynoch Works
{{Authority control Aircraft component manufacturers of the United Kingdom British companies established in 1862 Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange Engineering companies of the United Kingdom Firearm manufacturers of the United Kingdom Manufacturing companies based in Birmingham, West Midlands Metal companies of the United Kingdom 1862 establishments in England Manufacturing companies established in 1862 Companies in the FTSE 100 Index