| Industry | Metal engineering |
|---|---|
| Predecessor | W & A Kitching |
| Founded | 1790 |
| Headquarters | Darlington, County Durham, UK |
| Parent | Samsung C&T Corporation |
| Website | whessoe |
Whessoe is a company based inDarlington and onTeesside inNorth East England. It was formerly a supplier of chemical, oil and nuclear plant and instrumentation, and today is a manufacturer of low temperature storage.
The Whessoe Company traces its origins back to an iron foundry shop founded in 1790. That family business was inherited by William Kitching (d. 1850) and Alfred Kitching (1808–1882), both Quakers, who established theHope Town Foundry inDarlington in 1832.[1][2][map 1]
Both William and Alfred Kitching were on the board of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, as well as being shareholders.[3] They built several locomotives for the railway, including subcontracted manufacturing and repair work fromTimothy Hackworth.[4] 1845 built, Hackworth designed, Tory classDerwent is preserved in theNational Railway Museum collection.[5]
In 1860, theStockton and Darlington Railway purchased the 'Hope Town Foundry' site to extend itsHopetown Carriage Works and the Kitching business relocated toWhessoe Foundry also in Darlington.[map 2] In 1861, A Kitching was recorded as employing 45 people.[1]
The business passed from the Kitchings to their cousin Charles I'Anson.[2][6] The term 'Whessoe Foundry' was first applied to Charles I'Anson & Company in the 1860s, the name Whessoe being a locality name applied to the foundry.[7]
From 1850 to 1890 the company expanded into the manufacture of steel structures, cranes, and gas works equipment.[8] In 1881 the company became alimited liability company.[9]
In 1890 theWhessoe Foundry Company Limited was formed, and in 1920 the company was listed on theLondon Stock Exchange asWhessoe Foundry and Engineering Co Ltd,[8][10]Shell acquired 51% of the shares.[11]
From 1890 onwards the company mainly manufactured equipment for the gas and oil industries, such asgas holders.[8] It also made linings for underground railway tunnels[9] and later, equipment for the nuclear and petrochemical plants.[8] Whessoe designed and constructed reactor vessels for power stations includingCalder Hall and advanced gas-cooler reactors atHunterston B andHinkley B.[12]
Whessoe's business supplying low temperature gas storage equipment remained in Darlington, successively owned by Preussag Noell,Skanska and Al Rushaid. In 2013, it was acquired bySamsung C&T Corporation as Whessoe Engineering Ltd.[8]
In 1997Endress+Hauser acquired the Whessoe Varec instrumentation business.[11]
Whessoe Oil and Gas was revealed as a subscriber to the UK'sConsulting Association, exposed in 2009 for operating an illegal construction industryblacklist, and was among 14 issued with enforcement notices by the UKInformation Commissioner's Office.[13]
