George Cohen, Sons and Company was a scrap metal merchant with offices in Commercial Road, London. The company was founded by George Henry Cohen (d.1890)[1] as Messrs. George Cohen & Co. in 1834[2] and changed its name to George Cohen, Sons and Co. in 1883 on the appointment of Michael Cohen, son of the founder.[3] After the First World War the company won a number of large contracts to dispose of surplus munitions including "400,000 tons of high explosives and other shells".[4] The company also engaged in demolition work, with projects including the towers of Crystal Palace,[5] which had survived the great fire, the Dome of Discovery and Skylon at the Festival of Britain, and London's tram system. In 1940 the company moved its head offices to Hammersmith.[6]
In 1956 a holding company, 'The George Cohen 600 Group Limited',[7] was formed to control the original company and its many subsidiaries. The '600 Group' name, derived from the company first address, 600 Commercial Road, had been in informal use since 1945 or earlier.[8]
In 1970 the '600 Group' set up a joint venture, 'Six Hundred Metal Holdings', with Thorn Electrical Industries to operate the two companies' metal-handling businesses.[9] In 1975 the company name was changed to 'The 600 Group Limited', and in 1981 to 'The 600 Group PLC'.[10]
In 1987 George Cohen, Sons and Company was renamed to GCS (Steels) Limited,[11] part of the 600 Group. The scrap metal business was acquired by Monks Ferry (Ship Breaking) Ltd. of St. Helens near Warrington in Merseyside..[12]
The head office of GCS Steels was based at Stanningley Works, off Town Street in Stanningley Leeds. This site operated up until its closure in 1999. The site covered approximately 14 acres (6 ha) of land and had also been the base of several other companies that operated under the banner of the 600 Group. In the heyday of the metals trades the site had its own siding to transport large quantities of steel products.
In 2013 GCS Steels (Gosport) closed, and GCS Steels became a subsidiary of Pyramid Trading Limited.[13]
The following companies were members of the '600 Group' at some time. This information was obtained from the company's annual reports published in The Times newspaper.
Raw Materials Divisionedit
George Cohen and Armstrong Disposal Corporation, formed June 1923 jointly with Sir W. G. Armstrong, Whitworth, and Co. to dispose of government surplus stock.[14] The liquidation process ended in 1927.[15]
Pollock Brown & Co. Ltd., scrap merchants, reported 1957
Westbourne Park Coal & Iron Co. Ltd., reported 1957
Southall & Hayes Coal & Iron Co. Ltd., reported 1957
George Cohen Australia Scrap Co., registered 1960
Proler Cohen, scrap processing, Willesden, set up 1966. Run by 600 Ferrous Fragmentisers Ltd.[16] The Proler process, licensed from the Proler Steel Corporation of Houston, Texas, was not immediately successful but was working by the end of 1969.[17]
Steel Foundry Divisionedit
K & L Steelfounders And Engineers Limited., Letchworth, founded 1915 as Kryn & Lahy,[18] acquired May 1928, manufacturers of Jones Mobile and Railway Cranes. A new factory at Halstead, Essex opened 1958. Company renamed as Jones Cranes Limited in 1968.
K. & L. subsidiary in Toronto, opened 1953
T. C. Jones & Co. Limited, Wood Lane, structural engineers (noted in 1947). Factory at Treorchy, Glamorganshire built 1947. Reinforcement works, Neasden, opened Dec 1955.
F. Burnerd & Co., Ltd., (est. c. 1913), precision chucks, noted 1953
Machine Tool Works, Stockport, acquired 1958
G. Beaton & Son Ltd., vehicle component manufacturers, acquired 1958
Richmond Machine Tool Co. Ltd., mentioned 1963
W. E. Sykes, machine tools, acquired 1966
George Cohen Machinery, mentioned in The Times in 1967 as 'the largest plant hire firm in the country'
John A. Dick Holdings, owners of British Hoist & Crane Co., acquired 1967
Six Hundred South Africa (Pty), Johannesburg, expanded 1967
Jones Cranes Limited formed in 1938, from crane business of K. & L. Steelfounders. Closed in the 1990s. Successful revival in 2005 by a Sussex-based private engineering company. [18]
^"Money Market & City Intelligence", The Times, Jan 1, 1883, p.11
^"Big Sale of War Stocks", The Times, June 13, 1923, p.9
^"Towers Of Crystal Palace To Go", June 25, 1940, The Times, p.4
^"Miscellaneous Notices", The Times, Oct 22, 1940, p.8
^"Company Meetings", The Times, Sept 26, 1956, p.16
^"Lord Mayor's Mansion House Appeal for the Royal and Merchant Navies & Fishing Fleets", The Times, June 20, 1945, p.7
^"Bids, Deals & Mergers", The Times, Apr 14, 1970, p.29
^"The 600 Group PLC - Approval of waiver of obligation under Rule 9 of the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers, related party transactions, capital reorganisation and notice of General Meeting"
^"THE COMMISSION AUTHORISES MONKS FERRY (SHIP BREAKING) LTD. TO ACQUIRE THE SCRAP METAL BUSINESS OF GEORGE COHEN SONS & COMPANY LTD", European Commission Press Releases Database, IP/87/332, accessed 2013-09-12
^"Government's Surplus Stock. Success of Liquidation under New Scheme.", The Times, July 28, 1924, p.19
^"Sale of War Stores Completed", The Times, Mar 26, 1927, p.18
^"RailRef to ELR Correlation - RailRef Codes - Industrial & Private: Middlesex", Signalling Record Society, accessed 2012-04-18
^"Earning rise at Geo Cohen", The Times, June 5, 1970, p.28
^ ab"A sign of the times" (interview with Phil Lomax), Cranes & Access, July 2011
^"Browett, Lindley & Co. Ltd", UK National Archives, accessed 2023-09-27 ]
^"Page 19 'Percy Levy's Book of Life'", Jewish Museum, London, Ref. 1993.4.1.p19, accessed 2014-01-26
^"George Cohen, Sons and Co", Grace's Guide, accessed 2023-09-27
^"New top man for the 600", The Times, Dec 6, 1967, p.21
^"Jeff Benson", Metal construction, Volume 19, Welding Institute, 1987, p.110
^"Appointment at 600 Group", Construction News Nov 12, 1992
October 27, 2023
george, cohen, sons, company, scrap, metal, merchant, with, offices, commercial, road, london, company, founded, george, henry, cohen, 1890, messrs, george, cohen, 1834, changed, name, george, cohen, sons, 1883, appointment, michael, cohen, founder, after, fir. George Cohen Sons and Company was a scrap metal merchant with offices in Commercial Road London The company was founded by George Henry Cohen d 1890 1 as Messrs George Cohen amp Co in 1834 2 and changed its name to George Cohen Sons and Co in 1883 on the appointment of Michael Cohen son of the founder 3 After the First World War the company won a number of large contracts to dispose of surplus munitions including 400 000 tons of high explosives and other shells 4 The company also engaged in demolition work with projects including the towers of Crystal Palace 5 which had survived the great fire the Dome of Discovery and Skylon at the Festival of Britain and London s tram system In 1940 the company moved its head offices to Hammersmith 6 In 1956 a holding company The George Cohen 600 Group Limited 7 was formed to control the original company and its many subsidiaries The 600 Group name derived from the company first address 600 Commercial Road had been in informal use since 1945 or earlier 8 In 1970 the 600 Group set up a joint venture Six Hundred Metal Holdings with Thorn Electrical Industries to operate the two companies metal handling businesses 9 In 1975 the company name was changed to The 600 Group Limited and in 1981 to The 600 Group PLC 10 In 1987 George Cohen Sons and Company was renamed to GCS Steels Limited 11 part of the 600 Group The scrap metal business was acquired by Monks Ferry Ship Breaking Ltd of St Helens near Warrington in Merseyside 12 The head office of GCS Steels was based at Stanningley Works off Town Street in Stanningley Leeds This site operated up until its closure in 1999 The site covered approximately 14 acres 6 ha of land and had also been the base of several other companies that operated under the banner of the 600 Group In the heyday of the metals trades the site had its own siding to transport large quantities of steel products In 2013 GCS Steels Gosport closed and GCS Steels became a subsidiary of Pyramid Trading Limited 13 Contents 1 Subsidiary companies 1 1 Raw Materials Division 1 2 Steel Foundry Division 1 3 Machinery Division 1 4 After the Thorn merger 1970 2 Chairmen 2 1 As George Cohen Sons amp Co Ltd 2 2 As 600 Group 3 Bibliography 4 ReferencesSubsidiary companies editThe following companies were members of the 600 Group at some time This information was obtained from the company s annual reports published in The Times newspaper Raw Materials Division edit George Cohen and Armstrong Disposal Corporation formed June 1923 jointly with Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth and Co to dispose of government surplus stock 14 The liquidation process ended in 1927 15 Pollock Brown amp Co Ltd scrap merchants reported 1957 Westbourne Park Coal amp Iron Co Ltd reported 1957 Southall amp Hayes Coal amp Iron Co Ltd reported 1957 George Cohen Australia Scrap Co registered 1960 Proler Cohen scrap processing Willesden set up 1966 Run by 600 Ferrous Fragmentisers Ltd 16 The Proler process licensed from the Proler Steel Corporation of Houston Texas was not immediately successful but was working by the end of 1969 17 Steel Foundry Division edit K amp L Steelfounders And Engineers Limited Letchworth founded 1915 as Kryn amp Lahy 18 acquired May 1928 manufacturers of Jones Mobile and Railway Cranes A new factory at Halstead Essex opened 1958 Company renamed as Jones Cranes Limitedin 1968 K amp L subsidiary in Toronto opened 1953 T C Jones amp Co Limited Wood Lane structural engineers noted in 1947 Factory at Treorchy Glamorganshire built 1947 Reinforcement works Neasden opened Dec 1955 Dunlop amp Ranken Leeds steel merchants acquired Jan 1956 sold to British Steel Corporation 1980 New London Electron Works Ltd powder metallurgy noted 1953 Western Metallurgical Industries Ltd Neath noted 1953 F J Edwards Ltd London acquired 1966 Barnes amp Bell Glasgow steel stockholders acquired 1967 Jones Reinforcement spun off from T C Jones in 1969Machinery Division edit Campbell Gas Engine Co Ltd acquired 1928 Messrs Estler Brothers Ltd London metal workers acquired 1936 Works Hebburn on Tyne noted 1947 Colchester Lathe Co acquired 1954 Colchester Machinery Corporation Ltd Toronto mentioned 1957 shut down 1961 Colchester Werkzeugmaschinen GmbH set up 1958 Gamet Products Ltd Colchester precision bearings reported 1956 Midgley and Sutcliffe Ltd drilling machines acquired 1954 Selson Machine Tool Co Ltd London NW10 mentioned 1953 1957 Henry Osman amp Co Ltd drainage engineers reported 1956 7 Browett Lindley amp Co compressors acquired 1929 19 noted 1947 Coborn engines noted 1947 Metalclad Limited Neath and Stanningley woodworking machinery reported 1947 iron foundry at Morriston noted 1953 Machinery Works Kingsbury noted 1947 F Burnerd amp Co Ltd est c 1913 precision chucks noted 1953 Machine Tool Works Stockport acquired 1958 G Beaton amp Son Ltd vehicle component manufacturers acquired 1958 Richmond Machine Tool Co Ltd mentioned 1963 W E Sykes machine tools acquired 1966 George Cohen Machinery mentioned in The Times in 1967 as the largest plant hire firm in the country John A Dick Holdings owners of British Hoist amp Crane Co acquired 1967 Six Hundred South Africa Pty Johannesburg expanded 1967 Jones Cranes Limited formed in 1938 from crane business of K amp L Steelfounders Closed in the 1990s Successful revival in 2005 by a Sussex based private engineering company 18 Dickson Engineering acquired 1970After the Thorn merger 1970 edit Six Hundred Metal Holdings joint owned by Thorn Electrical Industries set up 1970 T S Harrison amp Sons lathes acquired 1971 Startrite Engineering acquired 1981 F Pratt Engineering lathe chucks acquired 1981 600 Fanuc Robotics Colchester partnership with Fujitsu 1983 Industrial Distribution Group of Clausing Corp acquired 1985 Electrox lasers acquired 1986 1 600 Machine Tools 600 Electrox Laser and 600 Technologies divisions formed in 2006 2 Colchester Harrison formed 2006 3 Ealing Electro Optics plc acquired 1988 4 Metal Muncher USA 2000 5 Chairmen editAs George Cohen Sons amp Co Ltd edit a 1920 1928 George Levy joined in 1908 20 1928 1947 Lawrence Levy 1876 1950 21 1947 Dec 1967 Cyril M Cohen grandson of founder As 600 Group edit Dec 1967 Apr 1987 Jack Alfred Wellings b 1917 knighted 1975 for services to export 22 Apr 1987 Dec 31 1992 Jeffrey Benson 23 Jan 1 1993 2006 Michael Wright 24 2007 2011 Paul Temple 2011 Paul DupeeBibliography editC E G Nye et al One Hundred Years 1834 1934 George Cohen Sons and Company Limited Robert Maclehose amp Co Ltd Glasgow Nov 1934 Wellings Jack 600 Makes It The 600 Group Plc 1983References edit Finding My Face B J News 19 26 July 2010 Company Meetings The Times Sep 27 1947 p 9 Money Market amp City Intelligence The Times Jan 1 1883 p 11 Big Sale of War Stocks The Times June 13 1923 p 9 Towers Of Crystal Palace To Go June 25 1940 The Times p 4 Miscellaneous Notices The Times Oct 22 1940 p 8 Company Meetings The Times Sept 26 1956 p 16 Lord Mayor s Mansion House Appeal for the Royal and Merchant Navies amp Fishing Fleets The Times June 20 1945 p 7 Bids Deals amp Mergers The Times Apr 14 1970 p 29 The 600 Group PLC Approval of waiver of obligation under Rule 9 of the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers related party transactions capital reorganisation and notice of General Meeting WebCHeck service of Companies House THE COMMISSION AUTHORISES MONKS FERRY SHIP BREAKING LTD TO ACQUIRE THE SCRAP METAL BUSINESS OF GEORGE COHEN SONS amp COMPANY LTD European Commission Press Releases Database IP 87 332 accessed 2013 09 12 About Us GCS Steels Gosport accessed 2014 04 18 Government s Surplus Stock Success of Liquidation under New Scheme The Times July 28 1924 p 19 Sale of War Stores Completed The Times Mar 26 1927 p 18 RailRef to ELR Correlation RailRef Codes Industrial amp Private Middlesex Signalling Record Society accessed 2012 04 18 Earning rise at Geo Cohen The Times June 5 1970 p 28 a b A sign of the times interview with Phil Lomax Cranes amp Access July 2011 Browett Lindley amp Co Ltd UK National Archives accessed 2023 09 27 Page 19 Percy Levy s Book of Life Jewish Museum London Ref 1993 4 1 p19 accessed 2014 01 26 George Cohen Sons and Co Grace s Guide accessed 2023 09 27 New top man for the 600 The Times Dec 6 1967 p 21 Jeff Benson Metal construction Volume 19 Welding Institute 1987 p 110 Appointment at 600 Group Construction News Nov 12 1992 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title George Cohen Sons and Company amp oldid 1178468165, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
