Abstract
SIR HARRY MCGOWAN, on behalf of Imperial Chemical Industries, Ltd., thanked Mr. Ramsay MacDonald for his address. He said that the opening of the Billingham plant has brought to a practical commencement an enterprise which has engaged the attention of his firm for many years. “We began at Billingham in 1927 on a very small scale indeed. For two and a half years research continued on a moderate scale, and by then it was clear that to achieve success a bold expansion policy was essential. Notwithstanding the discouraging business conditions of 1930 and 1931, we launched in those years an extended programme of work at a heavy annual cost. … In the end we spent more than a million pounds on this research.” During this period active encouragement was given by H.M. Government and interest was displayed in the work by the Fuel Research Board. Similar activities were proceeding abroad though from slightly different angles. The German I.G. was at work on brown coal, the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey was occupied with petroleum oil, and the Shell Group were not inactive. “In 1931 we effected with these three companies a pooling of all interests in the hydrogenation process, including a provision for a complete exchange of information, which promoted a more rapid advance by bringing us into immediate touch with every development of major importance.” The construction of this plant marks the culmination of eight years' work. “The chemists, engineers, metallurgists, draughtsmen, and workers may all be proud when they look at this plant. To name them is impossible, but without being invidious I desire to single out Mr. Kenneth Gordon, who has been in charge of the research work and construction of the plant, and also my colleague Colonel Pollitt, who was the inspiration of our earliest efforts.”
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Sir Harry McGowan's Reply. Nature 136, 635–636 (1935). https://doi.org/10.1038/136635c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/136635c0