The Early Days

From McBride's origins in 1860 to the origins of the modern day company in 1993.

Timeline

1860: Camille Simon opens laundry in West London
Our detergent business origins commence when Camille Simon and his wife arrive in Britain and open a laundry in West London.

1898 Simon's Lessive Cleaning Extract of Soap launched
The launch of Simon's Lessive Cleaning Extract of Soap in 1898 was to be the forerunner of a company committed to innovation and product development.

1927 The first McBride company was founded on 9th March
Robert McBride created a business in North Manchester to supply chemical processing products to Lancashire's cotton industry.

1945 Reg McBride moves the business to Middleton
McBride moves to its present location in Middleton, North Manchester. Under Reg McBride, our first consumer product is bleach, delivered overnight in glass bottles to local corner shops.

1960 Blow Moulding commenced
In the 1960's, the company enters an aggressive phase of expansion under the direction of Reg McBride's son Terry. We launched washing-up liquid and fabric conditioner, and developed the in-house blowing of plastic bottles following a growing demand for supermarket private labels.

1973 Robert McBride goes public
In 1973 the company went public, and acquired Gretna Laboratories, a toiletries business in Burnley Lancashire increasing the range of operations and breadth of product range.

1975 Camille Simon introduce first Fluid Bed washing powder production in UK
Camille Simon while still an independent company introduced the first Fluid Bed washing powder production in UK.

1978 Robert McBride acquired by BP
Robert McBride is acquired by BP as part of their detergents division.

1980 BP acquires Tensia
In order to broaden its detergents business BP acquired Tensia, a surfactant business based in Continental Europe.

1986 Launch of private label Laundry Liquids
In 1986 Robert McBride became the first UK manufacturer of private label laundry liquids.

1987 Robert McBride Ltd acquires Camille Simon
1987 saw a year of growth by acquisition to broaden the product offer. Camille Simon Ltd's washing powder factory at Barrow, bringing with it Surcare our leading brand of Laundry products designed for people with sensitive skin. Robert McBride becomes the first manufacturer to develop two times concentrated washing powders, in the same year.

Further UK acquisitions included ER Holloway's aerosol factory in Hull, and the Crestol Ltd haircare business in Bradford.

1988 75% share of Yplon Belgium acquired
In 1988 Yplon in Belgium and KopChemie in Italy were acquired; BP integrates these businesses with Tensia, which had acquired the Moyaux factory for private label liquid detergents and the Rosporden aerosol factory.

In 1988 McBride was the first to launch on the market, a combined liquid detergent and fabric conditioner, as well as the first fine china dishwashing powder.

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