Turner & Newall

Identity area

Type of entity

Corporate body

Authorized form of name

Turner & Newall

Parallel form(s) of name

  • T&N

Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules

    Other form(s) of name

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      Description area

      Dates of existence

      1920-2001

      History

      Turner & Newall (T&N) was a leading manufacturing business based in Manchester, UK. The company was one of the first to industrialise asbestos. Its demise in 2001 left an aftermath of asbestos litigation.

      The business originated with Turner Brothers, founded in Rochdale in 1871 to manufacture cotton-cloth-based packaging. In 1920 Turner Brothers merged with the Washington Chemical Company, Newalls Insulation Company, and J W Roberts to become Turner & Newall. That year T&N also became listed on the London Stock Exchange.

      Subsequently the company acquired Bells' United Asbestos Companies and several asbestos insulation companies in the UK, among others operating a plant in Armley, West Yorkshire, and an asbestos mine in Bulembu, Swaziland, Southern Africa. After World War II T&N diversified into components for the automotive industry (including gaskets). In 1953 it also bought Porters Cement Industries Ltd, a major producer of chrysotile asbestos products based in Salisbury and Bulawayo, Zimbabwe (at the time: Southern Rhodesia).

      In 1998 T&N was acquired by Federal Mogul, which as a result of a surge of asbestos-related personal injury claims filed for Chapter 11 protection. In the UK the business went into administration in October 2001, leaving a pension fund deficit estimated at £400 million.

      Parts of T&N continue trading. Porters Cement Industries Ltd, for instance, which had been renamed Turnall Fibre Cement Ltd after becoming part of T&N in 1952, continues to operate as an independent company in Zimbabwe, mainly producing asbestos cement sheets and pipes.

      The T&N Subfund of the Federal Mogul Asbestos Trust was organised to process, liquidate, and pay all valid Asbestos Trust claims for which T&N entities have legal responsibility. The Trust was created 27 December 2007 as a result of the confirmation of The Federal-Mogul Chapter 11 Joint Plan of Reorganization. For claimants whose principal exposure to asbestos was in the UK or one of several other non-US countries, a UK Asbestos Trust was established to provide for the payment of asbestos claims.

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      Authority record identifier

      C0393

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      Stub created by Anna-K Mayer, 18 May 2016

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