History

A Middlesbrough company which has extended the scope of its expertise from the immediate locality as far as South America, was started in 1926 by Hugh Crosland and the twin Parson brothers, Claude and Clyde.

They went into business to sell iron and steel products and they soon had offices in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, Swansea, Brussels and Middlesbrough. They also diversified their activities, buying out companies and offering management consultancy and long term loans to finance business.

During the world wide slump in the early 1930s offices had to close, directors’ fees were cut and the two Parson brothers resigned, leaving Hugh Crosland as sole Managing Director. At this time, the Head Office was in River Plate House in the City of London and H Henderson was the Chairman.

The group’s first dealings in South America were through Kenneth Henderson who opened the first office in Buenos Aires in 1926. This foothold in a foreign market proved an advantageous move as in those days it was difficult for foreign companies to get credit from European suppliers and Parson and Crosland acted as a confirming house.

In 1935 Evans Thornton became a limited company and Parson & Crosland took 40 percent of the shares in return for their existing Argentina businesses, namely Philco and Lindley engineering. Philco Argentina is now one of the largest manufacturers of televisions and video recorders in the country.

After the end of the Second World War there was a shortage of steel. In 1948 the company moved out of River Plate House. Things were difficult on the home market but Evans Thornton had a bumper year in 1947 due to the sale of 100 Gloster Meteor Jet Fighter aircraft for the sum of £4 million, the first aircraft of the Argentine airforce.

Evans Thornton was wound up as a holding company in 1978 after a break up of the directors. The firm now owned a non-ferrous foundry Sacima (sold in 1996), the aircraft sales company Avietsa as well as some agencies which ceased trading after the Falklands Conflict in 1982. Avietsa is now involved in the automation business and sells robots and quick release couplings.

Back in the UK, the Middlesbrough office was run by Charles (later Sir Charles) Fitton, who was made a director of the company in 1933. Almost the whole of the business was involved in the stocking of steel and iron. In those days this was not very sophisticated – in many cases a stockist had steel leaning against the walls of his warehouse the ends of the bars sunk into a channel in the ground. Bars were simply pulled away when required. Today stocks stand at 6,000 tonnes.

In 1948, Hugh’s son, Charles Crosland joined the company and was almost immediately sent to work in Argentina.

The 1950s was a time of expansion due to acquisitions. In 1951 Teesbank Ltd was bought in Middlesbrough, specialists in the testing and repairing of wrought iron, steel chains, wire rope slings and general lifting gear. This year also marked the 25th anniversary of the founding of the company and one week’s pay was awarded to the whole company.

Towards the end of the 1950s Charles Crosland and some Peruvian contacts formed Peru Mercantil, a trading company which started selling Rolls Royce Diesel engines. Later this company was to become Crosland Tecnica.

In 1966 the company bought the Newport Works (its present site) from Richard Hill and sold its lifting gear business. The following year Sir Charles Fitton died. In 1968 Ian Crane was made General Manager, becoming a director in 1977. At this time the non-ferrous foundry of William Lane was bought, having been established by the Lane family in 1862.

By 1974, the year the office moved to Kingsway, London, Portman Hill had moved to Middlesbrough and Parson & Crosland (Middlesbrough) Limited had been formed.

In 1995 Charles Crosland was killed in a riding accident and Ian Crane became Chairman and Managing Director of the group. One year later and an offer was received from the firm's partners in Peru and Parson & Crosland shares in Crosland Tecnica were disposed of. The Company continued it’s phase of consolidation into it’s core Middlesbrough based activities. H E Wooley, the company's fire extinguisher and fire protection business, was sold to it's manager Harry Wilmott in 2000 and moved off site 2 years later. Harry also acquired P&C’s participation in the South American business of Avietsa in this period. In the same year the Stockholding Business appointed a new MD, Edward Bilcliffe, previously a Director in a multinational Steelstockholding Business.

During 2002, the Crosland family decided that they would wish to exit the remainder of the business, so during that year the Directors completed a management buyout of the company. P&C Holdings Ltd was formed for this process, holding the shares of the 2 Middlesbrough trading companies, of Parson & Crosland and William Lane. The remaining export activity, Portman Hill & Co Ltd, was sold off in the first half of 2003.

Since the MBO, a substantial investment programme was implemented in the Company. The property has been extensively refurbished and a new Goliath crane erected adding 26.000 sqft of space under crane. A new Steel Plate Profiling Bay has been built, our Gas Machines have been fully refurbished, 2 new high definition Plasma Cutting Machines and 2 new CNC Plate Drills have been added. The company is now well equipped to provide a full range of Structural Fittings to the Construction Sector as well as components to Engineering Businesses. At the same time, processing machinery has been installed to enhance the service offered for it’s other products, most notably a CNC Sawing & Drilling line for Structural Sections.

At the end of October 2007, the Company was acquired by Murray General Steels (ultimately privately owned by Sir David Murray). P&C continues to operate as an independant business, however the financial resources and purchasing power of the Group provide the platform for the Company to continue it's recent development. Edward Bilcliffe remains as MD, Ian Crane retired as Chairman of the Company after 58 years. William Lane was not acquired by the Group, it continues to operate next door to P&C, it is the last remaining Foundry in Middlesbrough and is run by Director Stuart Duffy.

The Company now employs 50 people in Middlesbrough, and looks forward, fully prepared for the challenges that lie ahead.