The rise and fall of GPG

           International Ltd.

                             Peter Weetman

The Guiness Plastics Group, though short lived, was an important player in the Plastics Industry in 1960’s and 70’s. It brought together a number of established successful companies for a decade or so but changes in the brewing industry and the plastics moulding industry resulted in its eventual break up. Peter Weetman was Works Manager at GPG’s Warwick plant and this account is based on a text to accompany the film “GPG Holdings Ltd - Strength in Plastics”.

GPG International was the outcome of the foray of the Dublin brewer,  Arthur Guinness, into the plastics industry. In the early 1960s the distribution of beer was changing. Beer was sold in aluminium casks rather than traditional wooden barrels. Sales of bottled beer were rising but distribution in wooden crates was expensive and did not facilitate automatic handling and movement on pallets. There was a general move to use plastic  crates,  designed  to  interlock and allow what was called ‘bond stacking’ often to 24 crates high. Guinness had a barrel making plant in Dublin, which was about to become redundant. At that time they were purchasing some small items from a trade compression & injection moulding company in Warwick, Industrial Mouldings (Warwick) Ltd. The decision was made to turn the barrel making plant and its workforce into a plastic crate facility. To get the necessary engineering  and polymer expertise, Guinness took a partial financial interest in Industrial Mouldings.

19 January, 1967. Official opening of the extended office block. The original office block is on the left.

Note Guinness advertisement on fencing

By 1965 the new Dublin moulding plant had proved to be highly satisfactory, and the market for plastics crates was growing rapidly as the brewing industry  moved to greater automation. In this year Guinness took over Industrial Mouldings completely. On the day of the acquisition I turned up as  the  new  Works Manager. Ron Lewis was Joint Managing Director at that time. Shortly after he became sole MD and it was he who developed the GPG group.

With Guinness backing, the Warwick plant, while maintaining its position as a trade moulder, developed a range of crates to meet the new demands of brewers. This move was again highly successful. The factory site became congested so was extended by land acquisitions in the locality and totally rebuilt as a plant suitable for running large injection moulding machines.

The business was expanded under the title of GPG Products Ltd., with growth and acquisitions to add to the plants  in  Warwick & Dublin. Companies acquired were Thermo Plastics  Ltd  of  Dunstable, GEC Plastics   of  Witton,  Birmingham, Crystalware,  a  domestic  products moulder of Hereford, a tool making company,  Penton  Tools  Ltd  of Stokenchurch  and  Lilo  products. When a moulding plant in Holland was acquired, the group was renamed GPG International Ltd. The whole operation was directed from offices situated near to Leamington Spa.      While the  moulding  companies maintained their positions as  trade moulders, they had their own particular skills, which gave them a place in the  moulding world.  The Thermo Plastics  plant  was  a  force  in  large items  for  the  car  industry,  such as  bumpers  and dashboards.  The ex-GEC plant specialised in casings for the audio visual market. All plants became proficient in producing general and special purpose containers for materials handling, an obvious diversity from the beer & milk crate business.

Gurgit Gill shares the fun of producing boxes for sister company, Lilo Products, with Lord Iveagh, Chairman of Arthur Guinness Ltd ca. 1978

After several  years  of  prosperity, trading became difficult at the end of the 1970s both for GPG and all of the Guinness Group. As well as plastic moulding, Guinness had diversified into a wide range of industries, which it  could not control. Major changes were made to the management of  Guinness and Ernest Saunders was brought in to change the fortunes of the group. The initial strategy was to return the company to its core business  of  brewing  by  selling  off  the diverse companies.

GPG International was sold to the packaging company LinPac Ltd in 1983.  Guiness  recovered  but  in attempting to expand in the drinks industry became involved in a share price  fraud  over  the  acquisition  of  Distillers Ltd. This resulted in the high profile court case and the imprisonment of Ernest Saunders and a number of other leading business figures, who had been involved in the fraud. Guiness  prospers  now  under  the Diageo company name, the GPG initials are used by a financial organization and the Warwick moulding plant is a DIY superstore!

Promotional melamine dish showing the GPG logo

(Peter Weetman acknowledges that his account is slanted towards the Warwick plant  where he was Works Manager. Articles on the GEC Witton plant and Thermo Plastics would be welcome and valuable additions to this important part of plastics history. Ed )