Ferodo

A "Ferodo bridge" at Camden Road railway station in North London.

Ferodo is a British brake company based in Chapel-en-le-Frith in High Peak, Derbyshire.

History

Ferodo's Caernarfon factory was opened by Princess Margaret in 1964

It was founded in 1897 by Herbert Frood (1864–1931),[1] with manufacturing starting in Gorton in 1901 and moving to Chapel-en-le-Frith in 1902.[2] Ferodo was the first company to use asbestos for brake linings and developed the first modern brake friction materials.[3]

Ferodo UK became part of Turner & Newall in 1926. It had a factory at Chapel-en-le-Frith and in 1964 opened another at Caernarfon.[4]

In 1998 Turner & Newall was acquired by the huge automotive group Federal-Mogul.[5] It is now part of Federal-Mogul Aftermarket UK Limited. In 2012 £13m was invested in new floors, insulation, low energy heating and new process machines.[6]

Asbestos trust

Federal-Mogul got into financial difficulties and filed for Chapter 11 protection as a result of asbestosis claims.[7] In the United Kingdom the business went into administration in October 2001,[8] leaving a pension fund deficit estimated at £400 million.[9]

The T&N Subfund of the Federal-Mogul Asbestos Trust[10] was organized to pay all valid Asbestos Trust claims for which the T&N Entities have legal responsibility. The Trust was created December 27, 2007 as a result of the confirmation of The Federal-Mogul Chapter 11 Joint Plan of Reorganization.[11]

For claimants whose principal exposure to asbestos was in the United Kingdom or one of several other non-US countries, a UK Asbestos Trust[12] was established to provide for the payment of asbestos claims in addition to the US-focused Asbestos Trust described above. This includes posthumous payments to families of Ferodo factory workers.[13]

Advertising

Ferodo is famous in Britain for advertising by having the Ferodo brand name painted on railway bridges over main roads.[14]

References

  1. ^ "Chapel-en-le-Frith Parish Council official guide - also photo of Herbert Frood". Archived from the original on December 10, 2013.
  2. ^ Summary of records held in Derbyshire Archives Office
  3. ^ History of Asbestos Archived 2012-09-15 at the Wayback Machine, All About Asbestos
  4. ^ T&N companies, The T&N Asbestos Trust
  5. ^ "Federal-Mogul Corp. completes T&N; buy. - Rubber & Plastics News II | HighBeam Research". May 17, 2011. Archived from the original on 2011-05-17.
  6. ^ "Buxton Advertiser 11 July 2013 with photo of the refurbished factory".
  7. ^ "Federal-Mogul Financial restructuring".
  8. ^ "Legal Update" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on January 7, 2009.
  9. ^ "Business Analysis: Turner & Newall pensions crisis leaves". The Independent. December 8, 2004.
  10. ^ Federal-Mogul Asbestos Personal Injury Trust
  11. ^ "What Are You Walking On?". fmoplan.com.
  12. ^ "What is the T&N Asbestos Trustee Company?". The T&N Asbestos Trust.
  13. ^ Alex Hickey, Ferodo worker’s family compensated over asbestos death, Caernarfon Herald, 6 May 2010
  14. ^ Lynch, Lucy (March 19, 2017). "Why does it say FERODO on this Coventry bridge?". CoventryLive.