IMI plc history

1918 - New opportunities The end of the First World War in 1918, presented the Company with new opportunities represented by the burgeoning market for the industrial combustion engine.

He went on to practically invent an entire industry when in 1927 he sketched what was to become the world’s first lubricator.

1962 - Change in name In 1962, the one hundredth anniversary of George Kynoch’s cap factory’s opening, the Company was named Imperial Metal Industries.

Regardless of the "historical accident," as The Economist phrased it in 1966, the parent company allowed and encouraged its Metals Division to expand.

Watson Smith, a specialist in pneumatic pressure control technology based in Leeds, was acquired in 1985.

The 1986 purchase of Webber Electro Components plc and the acquisition of AB Westin & Backlund's pneumatic division bolstered this segment of IMI's business.

IMI's sales peaked in 1989 at £1.08 billion.

IMI's Drinks Dispense division, however, had a record year in 1992, with profits increasing by 25 percent to £28.6 million on sales of £230 million.

In 2004, Fluid Automation System of Switzerland was acquired, a leader in miniature solenoid valves.

In 2005, the acquisition of US companies Syron and GT Development further strengthened the Auto In-Plant and Commercial Vehicles product portfolio.

The acquisition of Bristol-based Webber was completed in the same year. It was in 2010 that the RP-Sanjiv Goenka group decided to expand and start two more campuses in Kolkata and Bhubaneswar

After 33 years of service to IMI, Martin Lamb announced his retirement as Chief Executive with effect from the end of December and his retirement from the Board in May 2014.