Page 52 - History-of-flooringLR

136 years of F Ball

This year marks 136 years since F Ball and Co Ltd was founded. To celebrate, we

take a look back at over 13 and a half decades of British manufacturing history.

Few iconic British brands can trace their roots back more than a Francis Ball died in 1904, and his share of the business was passed to
century. Fewer still remain family-owned businesses after all this his son, Walter James. A variety of new products were introduced
time. F Ball is unique amongst subfloor preparation and during the next few years with a growing emphasis on the
floorcovering adhesives manufacturers in holding both of these development of adhesives, including products for footwear repair, as
distinctions. However, the company wasn’t originally involved in well as a patented elastic glue. The partnership with Mr Collis was
the flooring industry at all. terminated in 1915, with Walter James becoming the sole owner.

‘F. Ball & Co’ was established on 8th October 1886 when Francis Familiar names
Ball entered into a partnership with William Henry Cowburn, an In the following years, the business continued to develop, with the
ink manufacturer. The company occupied premises in Lower management of the company passing to Walter’s sons, Francis
Kennington Lane, south east London, where a range of products Charles and Walter Ernest. Walter James died in 1931, and by
for the shoe and leather trade were developed. The partnership 1933 the Kennington Lane site had been vacated for larger
with William Cowburn was later dissolved, and a new one was facilities further south in Tooting. The company’s first venture
formed with William Collis, an accountant, in 1898. into the flooring trade came in 1936 with the introduction of
Stycco latex, which was used to join widths of carpet together.

During the Second World War the business was transferred from
London to Leek, in Staffordshire, and the next 20 years saw a
steady shift from manufacturing products for the shoe industry to
increased involvement in the commercial flooring trade. New
building methods, the evolution of synthetic fibres and
developments in carpet construction combined to produce a
revolution in both the use of floorcoverings and the adhesives
needed for their installation.

Old favourites
The introduction of cement-based ‘floor levelling’ products in the
early 1960s was followed by the launch of Stycco (later
Styccobond) F3 in the middle of the decade. Over 50 years since
the launch of its original formulation, it is still the most widely
used adhesive for the bonding of contract floorcoverings.

52 The History of Flooring