Strachan & Henshaw

Strachan & Henshaw was a defence and nuclear engineering company based in Ashton Gate in Bristol, England.

History

The company was founded by Robert Price Strachan and George Henshaw in 1879 as a partnership specialising in the manufacture of paper-bag making machinery, operating from Lewin's Mead in Bristol. In 1920 the business was bought by E. S. & A. Robinson.[3]

In the 1950s, as part of a consortium involving Clarke Chapman, Head Wrightson, C. A. Parsons & Co., A. Reyrolle & Co. and Whessoe and known as the Nuclear Power Plant Company ('NPPC'), it was awarded a contract for reactor mechanical plant at Oldbury nuclear power station.[4] It was subsequently awarded similar contracts at Heysham 2, Hinkley Point B, Hunterston B and Torness nuclear power stations.[4]

In 1966 the company's owners, E.S. & A. Robinson Ltd, merged with John Dickinson Ltd to form Dickinson Robinson Group.[5]

In 1972 the company became the prime contractor for launch systems for the Trafalgar-class submarine fleet.[6] Then in 1989 Roland Franklin of Pembridge Associates acquired Dickinson Robinson Group[5] and went on to sell Strachan & Henshaw to Weir Group in July 1990.[7]

In April 1998, it bought Bridgetest Holdings Ltd, a Manchester-based engineering company whose subsidiaries included Cunnington & Cooper Ltd, Nuclear and General Engineering Ltd and Wingrove & Rogers, all well-established businesses in the UK nuclear industry.[8] Then in May 2000 the company sold its materials handling equipment division to Sweden's Svedala.[9]

The business was acquired by Babcock International Group for £65 million in April 2008; it was subsequently fully integrated into Babcock and the Strachan & Henshaw name is no longer used.[7]