Topic: An engineer's view of a glassworks (bottles)

[Frank]

Delightful account from a former United Glass Worker... a side not often heard about.

LINK

[Lustrousstone]

  

[David E]

Fascinating article, so thanks for posting this - not badly edited either

I'll alert Heidi to this, as she is involved with researching aspects of United Glass.

[Heidimin]

Thanks for posting this, Frank - fascinating.

United Glass, now O-I UK, still have a bottle-manufacturing plant in Scotland, at Alloa. According to their website (http://www.united-glass.co.uk):

O-I is the UK affiliate of Owens-Illinois Inc, the world's leading manufacturer of glass packaging and glass making technology. The company employs around 900 people throughout the UK.
O-I operates two strategically located glass manufacturing plants [Alloa and Harlow], a specialist glass decoration facility [at Alloa] and a recycling subsidiary [operating at both sites]. The company's headquarters is at Harlow Essex.
O-I Alloa makes bottles for distilled spirits, beers, FAB brands and wines.
O-I Harlow is dedicated to the production of lightweight beer and FAB bottles.
The company also supplies the UK food industry with glass made by other O-I plants across Europe.
O-I employs just under 900 people across three locations - head office and manufacturing at Harlow, manufacturing and sales in Alloa and O-I’s own sand quarry at Devilla in Fife.

Key dates in the company history:

1913   St Helens bottle manufacturers Nuttall & Co merge with another five local firms (Alfred Alexander & Co Ltd, E Brefflit, Robert Candlish, Cannington Shaw and Moore & Nettlefield) to create United Glass Bottle Manufacturers Limited. The merger enables the six factories to pool resources to purchase new automatic bottle-making machinery from the US glass manufacturer Owens-Illinois
1957   UGB running 8 bottle factories, 2 closure factories, 2 engineering works, 5 offices, 15 warehouses, and 2 domestic glass factories (Sherdley tableware and Ravenhead stemware)
1959   United Glass Bottle renamed United Glass. Producing a third of all container glass made in the UK
1964   UG the largest glass container manufacturing group in Great Britain, with two factories in St Helens employing nearly 4,000 people. Plans announced to replace Sherdley works with new factory at adjacent Peasley site at a cost of £4 million.
1987   United Glass bought by Owens-Illinois
1993   British Glass Recycling subsidiary formed (later renamed O-I Recycling)
1999   Peasley Cross factory in St Helens closed and production concentrated at Alloa, Scotland and Harlow, Essex
2004   Premier Glass Packaging subsidiary at Cumbernauld closes and decoration facilities move to Kelliebank in Alloa
2005   United Glass renamed O-I as part of global re-branding of Owens-Illinois