Fairfield Enterprises
British-based manufacturer of industrial belting
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.
Former logo of Oscar Friedheim Ltd | |
Company type | Privately held company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Distributor |
| Predecessor | Oscar Friedheim Ltd |
| Founded | 1884 |
| Defunct | 2000 |
| Fate | Acquired |
| Successor | Bobst AG |
| Headquarters | , |
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) |
History
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] After the death of the companies founder on 17th May 1928 his wife Henriette Friedheim (née Braun, 1868–1935) took over as the governing director of Friedheim.[7]
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.[8] 1948 Oscar Friedheim Ltd. bought the engineers and sundries business of John Haddon & Co, a London-based printing and advertising company.[9]
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.[10]
In August 1997 Fairfield was listed on the London Stock Exchange at 80p per share[10] to raise funds for acquisitions and to "allow shareholders who are descendants of Oscar Friedheim, ..., to realise a value for their holdings."[11] In 1998 Fairfield bought Palatine Engraving (Leeds)[12] and Kennedy Grinding (London).[13] In 1999 the headquarters of Fairfield Enterprises was moved from London to Redditch.[14]
In 2000 Bobst AG of Switzerland acquired Fairfield Enterprises,[15] paying 200p per Share.[16] 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[17] and Lasercomb Group (including Palatine Engraving),[18] were sold to their management in 2005 and 2006 respectively.
