Industry | Distributor |
---|---|
Founded | 1884 |
Headquarters | Redditch, England, UK |
Key people | James Ramsey Venn ( Chairman) (1999) Geoffrey Crossland Darricotte ( Chief Executive) (1999) |
Revenue | £ 57.8 million (1999) |
£ 2.9 million (1999) | |
Number of employees | 353 (1999) |
Fairfiel Enterprises was a leading British-based machine distributor and supplier of tooling and support services to the printing and packaging industries. The company was taken over in 2000 by the Swiss company Bobst AG, a supplier of machinery and services to the packaging industry.
The business was founded in London [1] in 1884 by the Jewish-German immigrant Oscar Friedheim (1858–1928), [2] at first trading in the supply of cardboard and paper. Five years later the company turned to the import and distribution of machinery, [3] starting with a German [4] made card cutting and scoring machine for the production of visiting cards. [5] From there on Oscar Friedheim focused on building up its connections with overseas machine manufacturers in the paper and packaging industry (e. g. Bobst, Faber & Schleicher, Muller Martini and after the Second World War Winkler + Dünnebier).
In 1913 the company was incorporated as a limited company with a nominal capital of £17,000. [6] During The Blitz its head office in Water Lane was hit hard twice. Most of the machinery and the company records got destroyed. Therefor a new provisional office had to be set up at Mill Hill. [7] 1948 Oscar Friedheim Ltd. bought the engineers and sundries business of John Haddon & Co, a London based printing and advertising company. [8]
In 1970 Fairfield Enterprises Ltd. was created as a holding company of Oscar Friedheim Ltd. To extend its business into spare parts Fairfield bought 50% of Lasercomb Dies Ltd. ( Redditch) in 1984 and purchased the remaining 50% in 1991. [9]
In August 1997 Fairfield was listed on the London Stock Exchange at 80 p per share [9] to raise funds for acquisitions. [10] In 1998 Fairfield bought Palatine Engraving ( Leeds) [11] and Kennedy Grinding ( London). [12] In 1999 the headquarters of Fairfield Enterprises was moved from London to Redditch. [13]
In 2000 Bobst AG of Switzerland acquired Fairfield Enterprises, [14] paying 200p per Share. [15] Fairfield's activities concerning the distribution of Bobst machinery in the UK and Ireland were renamed Bobst UK Holdings Ltd. The remaining parts of Fairfield, Friedheim International [16] and Lasercomb Group (including Palatine Engraving), [17] were sold to their management in 2005 and 2006 respectively.
Industry | Distributor |
---|---|
Founded | 1884 |
Headquarters | Redditch, England, UK |
Key people | James Ramsey Venn ( Chairman) (1999) Geoffrey Crossland Darricotte ( Chief Executive) (1999) |
Revenue | £ 57.8 million (1999) |
£ 2.9 million (1999) | |
Number of employees | 353 (1999) |
Fairfiel Enterprises was a leading British-based machine distributor and supplier of tooling and support services to the printing and packaging industries. The company was taken over in 2000 by the Swiss company Bobst AG, a supplier of machinery and services to the packaging industry.
The business was founded in London [1] in 1884 by the Jewish-German immigrant Oscar Friedheim (1858–1928), [2] at first trading in the supply of cardboard and paper. Five years later the company turned to the import and distribution of machinery, [3] starting with a German [4] made card cutting and scoring machine for the production of visiting cards. [5] From there on Oscar Friedheim focused on building up its connections with overseas machine manufacturers in the paper and packaging industry (e. g. Bobst, Faber & Schleicher, Muller Martini and after the Second World War Winkler + Dünnebier).
In 1913 the company was incorporated as a limited company with a nominal capital of £17,000. [6] During The Blitz its head office in Water Lane was hit hard twice. Most of the machinery and the company records got destroyed. Therefor a new provisional office had to be set up at Mill Hill. [7] 1948 Oscar Friedheim Ltd. bought the engineers and sundries business of John Haddon & Co, a London based printing and advertising company. [8]
In 1970 Fairfield Enterprises Ltd. was created as a holding company of Oscar Friedheim Ltd. To extend its business into spare parts Fairfield bought 50% of Lasercomb Dies Ltd. ( Redditch) in 1984 and purchased the remaining 50% in 1991. [9]
In August 1997 Fairfield was listed on the London Stock Exchange at 80 p per share [9] to raise funds for acquisitions. [10] In 1998 Fairfield bought Palatine Engraving ( Leeds) [11] and Kennedy Grinding ( London). [12] In 1999 the headquarters of Fairfield Enterprises was moved from London to Redditch. [13]
In 2000 Bobst AG of Switzerland acquired Fairfield Enterprises, [14] paying 200p per Share. [15] Fairfield's activities concerning the distribution of Bobst machinery in the UK and Ireland were renamed Bobst UK Holdings Ltd. The remaining parts of Fairfield, Friedheim International [16] and Lasercomb Group (including Palatine Engraving), [17] were sold to their management in 2005 and 2006 respectively.