Company celebrates 25th anniversary
April 2008
L to R: Dave Boyce, Ian Alexander, Dave Brown, John Purdy (DTF site manager), Alan Cook and Thane Gough
DuPont Teijin Films is celebrating 25 years of research and development at the Wilton Centre.
It was in 1983, 25 years after the first successful manufacture of ICI’s Melinex® polyester film at the Welwyn semi-tech plant, that the Melinex® technical group was re-located to ICI’s then-headquarters of its Petrochemical and Plastics division.
The 42 staff re-located from Welwyn were joined in the first few months by 40 staff recruited from the other ICI businesses on Teesside. Of the 82 staff that initiated the films technical group at Wilton, only five remain today.
By 1994, Wilton had become the global headquarters of the Melinex® business with more than 230 people employed at its peak. The business was expanding rapidly and was heavily dependent on the Wilton technical team to be the engine for innovation and growth. In 1998, ICI sold the business to DuPont with the emphasis on Wilton once again as a technology centre and this was further enhanced in 2000 when DuPont formed a joint venture with Teijin.
Today, there are again 82 people employed at Wilton supporting the global DuPont Teijin Films (DTF) business, acting as a global technology centre developing new products and processes for DTF’s operations world-wide.
During its 25-year history, the group has developed products for a range of applications. An example of this is the film used for identity cards which are used by 20% of the world’s population. This development was recognised by a Queen’s award in 2003.
DuPont Teijin Films again have great cause to celebrate yet another achievement this year. They have been awarded for the second time a Queen’s Award for Enterprise: Innovation 2008. This award acknowledges DTF for their innovative range of Melinex® lightblocking films used in point of sale, pop-up and exhibition banner stands. DTF will be officially presented with this award later in the year.