Thomas Swan celebrates its 90th anniversary with a Summer party

It wasn’t only Her Majesty the Queen who turned 90 this year!

Founded in Consett in 1926, Thomas Swan & Co. Ltd., an independent speciality chemical manufacturing company, celebrated its 90th anniversary this year with a party for all of its 160 employees and 270 of their immediate families at its North East headquarters.

The event, held on 9th July, saw over 400 people come together to enjoy a fun filled celebration. Six months in the planning, the fun day included fairground stalls, bouncy castle, giant boot camp, garden games, laser clay shooting and much more. As well as this, attendees enjoyed tours of the plant, live music, speeches and an awards ceremony.

The company was originally established by Tommy Swan who used slag, the waste product of the local steel industry, as a cheap raw material to combine with tar to make tarmacadam for road construction. He soon switched to higher quality mined road stone and bitumen instead of tar, but required a chemical surfactant to help the two ingredients stick together. Over the ensuing decades the company diversified into a wide range of chemicals and today is one of the most innovative chemical companies in the UK manufacturing graphene, carbon nanotubes and the recently announced 2D boron nitride.

Harry Swan, Managing Director and Great Grandson of the founder said “I’m thrilled to be managing the company on our 90th anniversary which is an impressive milestone for any business to reach. It is a unique moment when we can celebrate the remarkable people who have worked so hard over nine decades to make Thomas Swan so successful. We are now focused on reaching our centenary by growing our innovative products like graphene and 2D boron nitride! Thank you and well done to all of our employees.”