60 Years of Manufacturing
Witton Chemical Company Limited was first incorporated in November 1962. In those early days the company was based in Great Dunmow on Witton Avenue and run by it’s founder, Dr Eric Wrench. Initially the company manufactured products by the polymerisation of acrylic acid. Early in the 1970s the company moved to its present location on a new industrial estate in Mildenhall. This site offered more space for expansion and was closer to a major customer in sugar processing. During the 1970s and 80s the company expanded both its manufacturing capabilities and the range of its own products, but also started toll manufacturing related products. The move towards toll manufacturing expanded through the 1990s such that at the start of the 21st century well over 50% of the manufacturing on the Mildenhall site was contract work on behalf of other companies.
As well as free-radical polymerisation Witton also developed a range of polyurethane materials which were sold under the WSP brand. This product range and the associated technology was later sold to a large multinational company but Witton continues to toll manufacture these and their successor materials.
60 years later the company is still privately owned by the Wrench family. We still manufacture our Acriflow brand of dispersants made from polymerised acrylic acid along with our newer specialist grade of glutaric acid but the vast majority of our output now is toll manufactured polymers for third parties. Exports, mainly to Europe and America, now make up a significant percentage of the total manufactured volume.
During those last 60 years the company has seen good times and bad, through a number of national and global economic cycles and we are all proud to have helped the business continue manufacturing quality materials through all those ups and downs. We are approaching another difficult period caused by the global energy prices and cost of living crisis but feel confident we can weather this next storm too. We look forward to many more years of chemical manufacturing and hope to receive your enquiry soon.
Witton Chemical Co. Ltd.
Tel +44 (0)1638716001
