Patons and Baldwins

Infobox Defunct company
company_name = Patons and Baldwins
company_
slogan =
company_type =
fate = Merged
Predecessor =
successor = Coats PLC
foundation = 1770s
defunct = 1961
location = Alloa, UK
industry = Clothing
products = Yarn
key_people =
num_employees =
parent =
subsid =

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.

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. [http://www.coatscrafts.co.uk/About+Coats/History/ Coats crafts history] ] Both individuals had separately formed their businesses using the spinning mule developed by Samuel Crompton. Both companies produced mainly yarns for commercial knitting machines.

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. [ [http://www.alloa.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=61&Itemid=32 Alloa online] ]

The two companies merged in 1920, and diversified into producing wool for home knitters as well as publishing knitting patterns under the "Patons Rose" and "Baldwins Beehive" and trademarks.

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 and New Zealand. [http://archive.thisisthenortheast.co.uk/2001/9/24/159098.html Great yarn of knitting giant's rise and fall] ] 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. The company branched out into various related lines of business, including the running of an angora rabbit farm in Staffordshire between 1932 and 1934 [ [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=42359 British History online] ] and the development of new products such as nylon and Terylene.

Demise of the business

The company was merged with J & P Coats Limited in 1961. [ [http://www.coats.com/history.htm Coats history] ] The Patons trademark continues in use today. [ [http://www.coatscrafts.com/ Welcome to Coats Crafts] ]

The yarn production facility at Alloa was finally closed in 1999. [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4156/is_19990822/ai_n13940756 Neglected wee county languishes in the doldrums] ]

References