George Cohen, Sons and Company

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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]

Contents

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]

Subsidiary companies

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 Division

Steel Foundry Division

Machinery Division

After the Thorn merger, 1970

Chairmen

As George Cohen, Sons & Co. Ltd.

As 600 Group

Bibliography

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References

  1. ↑ "Finding My Face", B-J News 19, 26 July 2010
  2. ↑ "Company Meetings", The Times, Sep 27, 1947, p.9
  3. ↑ "Money Market & City Intelligence", The Times, Jan 1, 1883, p.11
  4. ↑ "Big Sale of War Stocks", The Times, June 13, 1923, p.9
  5. ↑ "Towers Of Crystal Palace To Go", June 25, 1940, The Times, p.4
  6. ↑ "Miscellaneous Notices", The Times, Oct 22, 1940, p.8
  7. ↑ "Company Meetings", The Times, Sept 26, 1956, p.16
  8. ↑ "Lord Mayor's Mansion House Appeal for the Royal and Merchant Navies & Fishing Fleets", The Times, June 20, 1945, p.7
  9. ↑ "Bids, Deals & Mergers", The Times, Apr 14, 1970, p.29
  10. ↑ "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"
  11. ↑ WebCHeck service of Companies House
  12. ↑ "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
  13. ↑ "About Us", GCS Steels (Gosport), accessed 2014-04-18
  14. ↑ "Government's Surplus Stock. Success of Liquidation under New Scheme.", The Times, July 28, 1924, p.19
  15. ↑ "Sale of War Stores Completed", The Times, Mar 26, 1927, p.18
  16. ↑ "RailRef to ELR Correlation - RailRef Codes - Industrial & Private: Middlesex", Signalling Record Society, accessed 2012-04-18
  17. ↑ "Earning rise at Geo Cohen", The Times, June 5, 1970, p.28
  18. 1 2 "A sign of the times" (interview with Phil Lomax), Cranes & Access, July 2011
  19. ↑ "Browett, Lindley & Co. Ltd", UK National Archives, accessed 2023-09-27 ]
  20. ↑ "Page 19 'Percy Levy's Book of Life'", Jewish Museum, London, Ref. 1993.4.1.p19, accessed 2014-01-26
  21. ↑ "George Cohen, Sons and Co", Grace's Guide, accessed 2023-09-27
  22. ↑ "New top man for the 600", The Times, Dec 6, 1967, p.21
  23. ↑ "Jeff Benson", Metal construction, Volume 19, Welding Institute, 1987, p.110
  24. ↑ "Appointment at 600 Group", Construction News Nov 12, 1992
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