Rotork

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Rotork plc
Public
Traded as LSEROR
Industry Engineering
Founded 1957
Headquarters Bath, Somerset, UK
Key people
Roger Lockwood, Chairman
Peter France, CEO
Revenue £594.7 million (2014)[1]
£142.2 million (2014)[1]
£103.2 million (2014)[1]
Number of employees
3,500 (2015)[2]
Website www.rotork.com

Rotork plc is a British-based manufacturing company. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

History

Rotork headquarters and factory in Bath

The Company was established as a small engineering workshop in Bristol in the 1940s. In 1945 it was acquired by Frenchay Products led by Jeremy Fry. It made its first actuator in 1952.[3] In 1957 Rotork moved to Bath, initially operating from Widcombe Manor, Jeremy Fry’s home, with 12 staff. In 1962 it moved into a new production plant in Newbridge, Bath, which remains the company's headquarters.[4] It was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1968 as Rotork Controls.[5]

File:Rotork controls.jpg
Electrically actuated butterfly valves controlling the automatic operation of filter plant in a water treatment works
File:Rotork fluid systems.jpg
A pneumatically actuated safety shut-down ball valve in a natural gas processing plant

Protech Instruments & Systems, an instrumentation company, was purchased in 1985 to expedite the development of Pakscan, a digital bus control system for actuators.[6]

In 1999 it bought Fluid System Srl, an Italian actuator business, in 2000 it bought Skilmatic in Leeds[6] and in 2002 it acquired Jordan Controls, a United States actuator business.[3] It started operating in Sweden in 2008 with the purchase of Remote Control.[7]

In 2009 the company acquired Flow-Quip, [8] and in 2010 Ralph A. Hillier, US-based businesses.[9] In 2011 Rotork Servo Controles de Mexico S.A. de C.V. became fully owned by Rotork after being part-owned since the 1970s.[10] Shortly afterwards Rotork purchased Valco Valves Automation AS, Rotork’s long term sales and service agent in Norway, now renamed Rotork Norway.[11] Rotork acquired K-Tork International Inc., based in Dallas, and Centork Valve Control S.L., a Spanish actuator manufacturer based near San Sebastián.[12]

In 2011 Fairchild Industrial Products in North Carolina was acquired, and the Rotork Instruments division created.[13] In the UK Prokits was purchased and merged with Rotork Valvekits.[14]

In 2012 Italian switchbox manufacturer Soldo Srl was added to Rotork Instruments and in 2013 the German actuator manufacturer Schischek was purchased.[15]

Flowco in the UK and Renfro associates in the USA were further acquisitions in 2013, both adding to the company’s service capabilities, and the Italian actuator manufacturer GT Attuatori Srl was also purchased.[16] In 2014 Rotork Instruments acquired Young Tech Co. Ltd. (YTC), a Korean instrumentation manufacturer.[17]

Operations

The company is a designer and manufacturer of industrial flow control products encompassing valve actuators, gearboxes, control systems, instrumentation and accessories. It is organised into the following businesses: Rotork Controls, Rotork Fluid Systems, Rotork Gears, Rotork Instruments. Rotork Site Services supports all these divisions.

References

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  3. 3.0 3.1 Rotork Joins The Watch List Motley Fool, 14 August 2003
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  6. 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. Rotork acquires Remote Control Sweden Waste and Watewater, 28 February 2008
  8. Rotork buys Flow-Quip Controls for $8m IB Times, 9 November 2009
  9. Rotork acquires Ralph A. Hillier Company VMA, 24 May 2010
  10. Rotork Acquires Servo Controles de Mexico S.A. de C.V.
  11. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. Rotork Acquires K-Tork International Inc. and Centork Valve Control S.L.
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External links