User:Cloudbound/Cuprinol

Cuprinol is a brand of garden woodcare treatments made by AkzoNobel.

History
In 1911, O.P. Christensen in Denmark made a substance called Copper in Oil, or Cuprum in Ol. It was dissolved copper in organic solvents and helped to preserve fishing nets. It was made by A. S. Kymeia of Copenhagen and had a slightly green colour from the dissolved copper salts. The product was developed in the 1930s to prevent dry rot and woodworm, essentially to protect wood from rot and insect attack. The company was originally based in the UK from 1937. The factory was bombed in 1941.

Jenson & Nicholson bought half the company in 1951, followed by the remainder in 1958. The factory was moved to the former William & Pinchin & Co Ltd factory in Adderwell in Frome, Somerset. Administration of the company moved to Frome in 1965. In 1970, the company was bought by Farbwerke Hoechst AG of Germany.

By the late 1990s, Cuprinol was owned by Williams plc. In May 1998, Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) purchased Williams' European home products division, taking on Cuprinol, Xyladecor, Alabastine, Hammerite, Polyfilla, Molto and Cimsec brands.

The company employed 230 people. ICI announced the closure of the Frome site in September 2000, and it closed in 2000 with production moving to various ICI Paints sites and administration moved to the ICI Paints site in Slough. The Frome site was turned into housing. In 2008, ICI Paints was bought by Dutch company AkzoNobel, based in Amsterdam.

Environment
Cuprinol is the official business partner of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) in the UK, as part of a global partnership between AkzoNobel and the FSC. As part of this partnership, Cuprinol is helping to promote the responsible and sustainable use of wood as well as awareness of the FSC and its work.