This is a bit of a sad story - a once flourishing chemical company which was bought out of receivership in 2019 by CorpAcq, and then closed for good in Aug 2020 with the loss of many jobs.
The contents were auctioned off in Dec but most are still there, waiting to be collected.
Companies like this make stuff to order, all sorts of molecules but mainly intermediates for the agrochemical and pharmaceutical industries.
Contract specialised in bromination and even made intermediates for Kodak, not far away in Knowsley, but the plants are rather different.
It was difficult to work out what the (modern) Kodak factory used to make, but here there are rooms and labs full of paperwork and recipes.
However sections of the plant are really quite run-down and it seems that lack of long term investment together with the ups and downs of short-term contracts ultimately lead to its closure.
Aerial view and plan. I only covered the manufacturing side of site - the warehouse at the front just contained surplus stock, and I didn’t go into the office block connected to the occupied gatehouse.
Pictures were done fast on auto since there were still a few people kicking around, even on New Year’s Day.
Working from left to right, first the ‘BONNER’ building, named after one of the founders of the company.
This is where large scale bromination happened, apparently getting through 2500 tonnes of liquid bromine a year.
Control rooms in modern chemical plants are boring - just a few buttons on the front of boxes of wiring.
The ‘TDC’ plant which has holes in the roof and a block of labs and offices.
In the middle of the site are the boiler house, a fitters workshop - it sounded like there was someone upstairs in this one - and a small reverse osmosis plant.
The ‘DIOL’ plant - another run-down looking area with decay and even dead pigeons.
The ’SURFACTANT HALL’ which contained driers with some offices and communal spaces at the front.
The contents were auctioned off in Dec but most are still there, waiting to be collected.
Companies like this make stuff to order, all sorts of molecules but mainly intermediates for the agrochemical and pharmaceutical industries.
Contract specialised in bromination and even made intermediates for Kodak, not far away in Knowsley, but the plants are rather different.
It was difficult to work out what the (modern) Kodak factory used to make, but here there are rooms and labs full of paperwork and recipes.
However sections of the plant are really quite run-down and it seems that lack of long term investment together with the ups and downs of short-term contracts ultimately lead to its closure.
Aerial view and plan. I only covered the manufacturing side of site - the warehouse at the front just contained surplus stock, and I didn’t go into the office block connected to the occupied gatehouse.
Pictures were done fast on auto since there were still a few people kicking around, even on New Year’s Day.
Working from left to right, first the ‘BONNER’ building, named after one of the founders of the company.
This is where large scale bromination happened, apparently getting through 2500 tonnes of liquid bromine a year.
Control rooms in modern chemical plants are boring - just a few buttons on the front of boxes of wiring.
The ‘TDC’ plant which has holes in the roof and a block of labs and offices.
In the middle of the site are the boiler house, a fitters workshop - it sounded like there was someone upstairs in this one - and a small reverse osmosis plant.
The ‘DIOL’ plant - another run-down looking area with decay and even dead pigeons.
The ’SURFACTANT HALL’ which contained driers with some offices and communal spaces at the front.
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Good work UC, as per usual.
