English China Clays

English China Clays
Former type Public
Industry Mining
Fate Acquired
Successor Imerys
Founded 1919
Defunct 1999
Headquarters St Austell, UK
Key people Lawrence Urquhart, (Chairman)

English China Clays plc or ECC was a mining company involved in the extraction of china clay, based in St Austell, Cornwall. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but in 1999 was acquired by Imetal.

Contents

History

The company was formed in 1919 by the merger of West of England China Clay Co., Martyn Brothers and North Cornwall China Clays, who joined together to form English China Clays[1] (the three companies accounted for around half the output at the time). This merger was followed in 1932 by the merger of ECC with two of its main rivals, John Lovering and H. D. Pochin.[1] This formed the new company English China Clays, Lovering, Pochin, & Co. (ECLP): in 1956 the Lovering and Pochin families were bought out and the company became known as ECC International Ltd.[2]

Demise of the business

In 1999 ECC International was acquired by the French company Imetal which subsequently changed its name to Imerys.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b Cornwall's clay industry
  2. ^ Domesday Reloaded BBC
  3. ^ Imetal to Buy ECC For $1.2 Billion ICIS, 8 February 1999

External links