Patons and Baldwins
 |
|
| Industry | Clothing |
|---|---|
| Fate | Merged |
| Successor(s) | Coats PLC |
| Founded | 1770s |
| Defunct | 1961 |
| Headquarters | Alloa, UK |
| Products | Yarn |
Patons and Baldwins was a leading British manufacturer of knitting yarn. It was a constituent of the FT 30 index of leading companies on the London Stock Exchange.
[edit] History
The business began as two separate companies, founded in the late 1770s by John Paton of Alloa, Scotland and James Baldwin of Halifax, England.[1] Both individuals had separately formed their businesses using the spinning mule developed by Samuel Crompton.[1] Both companies produced mainly yarns for commercial knitting machines.[1]
The Paton family were regarded as generous benefactors in the town of Alloa, where they provided funding for a significant range of public building projects, including the town hall, public libraries, a school, a swimming pool and a gymnasium.[2]
The two companies merged in 1920,[1] and diversified into producing wool for home knitters as well as publishing knitting patterns under the "Patons Rose" and "Baldwins Beehive" and trademarks.[1]
By the mid 1930s, the company had establishments across Scotland and the North of England, including factories at Billingham and Jarrow, and also in Canada, New Zealand, and a large factory in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia.[3] In 1951 the headquarters of the business was relocated from Halifax to Darlington, where a large single storey factory employing 4,000 people was developed at a cost of £7.5 million.[3] The company branched out into various related lines of business, including the running of an angora rabbit farm in Staffordshire between 1932 and 1934,[4] and the development of new products such as nylon and Terylene.[3]
[edit] Demise of the business
The company was merged with J & P Coats Limited in 1961.[5] The Patons trademark continues in use today.[6]
The yarn production facility at Alloa was finally closed in 1999.[7] The bulk of the surviving business records from the Alloa operation, together with some material from other factories, is now held by Clackmannanshire Archives in Alloa. [8]
