History of a Gas Giant
The BOC Group is one of the largest gas companies in the world, employing over 43,000 people and with sales of over £4.5bn in 2004.
It was started in the late 19th century by two brothers, Arthur and Leon Brin, who commercialised a way of chemically extracting oxygen and established the company, then known as Brin's Oxygen Company. In the early years, one of the main uses of the oxygen was for limelight — the creation of light by directing a hydrogen or oxygen flame at a cylinder of lime. At the time limelight was in widespread use to light stages in theatres and music halls. It was later replaced by electric lighting, but the phrase "in the limelight", that referred to those on stage, is still used to describe someone who is in the public eye.
Over the next few decades progress was made in the extraction of oxygen, which led to today's main method — the liquefaction and distillation of air. Over the years, new markets for oxygen also emerged, including the use of oxygen combined with acetylene in the welding industry. BOC claims that its oxygen had a vital part to play in the manufacturing effort for the First World War, where the new welding technology was used to build munitions, tanks, vehicles and ships. BOC also started producing other gases, including hydrogen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide.
BOC's first factory opened on the Horseferry Road, a few streets away from the Houses of Parliament in Westminster. The company spread first over the UK and then across Europe and the US. It now operates in six continents and makes the majority of its turnover in the Asia/Pacific region.
As well as its industrial gas activities, the BOC Group has a specialist division, called BOC Edwards, which supplies ultra-high purity gases and associated equipment to the semiconductor industry — gases are used in almost every stage in the production of semiconductors as any impurities can reduce the quality of the device. The Group also includes Gist, a logistics company, and Afrox Hospitals, which owns and manages over 60 hospitals and clinics in South Africa.
In the last hundred years that company has changed its name a number of times, to the British Oxygen Company, BOC International and finally the BOC Group. It has been a publicly listed company since 1981 and is listed in the FTSE 100 index
