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Allied Glass Containers Ltd Timeline

 * 1874 - Gregg & Co established
 * 1891 - Lax & Shaw (L&S) established
 * 1966 - Lax & Shaw acquired by Associated British Foods Plc (A.B.F)
 * 1993 - Gregg & Co. acquired by A.B.F.
 * 1999 - Companies merged to form Allied Glass Containers Ltd
 * 2002 - 1st Management Buy Out (M.B.O.)
 * 2010 - 2nd Management Buy Out (M.B.O.)
 * 2013 - 3rd Management Buy Out (M.B.O.)

Gregg & Co. (1874-1999)
The construction of the Knottingley - Goole canal in 1826 and the introduction of the local railways after 1845 together with the existing road and river routes gave the town of Knottingley a comprehensive communications network.

Placed within the Yorkshire coalfield and located centrally in the country, it had easy access to raw materials and markets for its products and it is this that ensured the industrial development of the town.

In 1874 a partnership of Isaac Burdin, George Popplewell, G. W. Barton and T. Bilsborough purchased an area of land adjacent to the Knottingley-Goole canal and commenced production of flint bottles of various hues. In 1875 the financial strain of establishing the business led to Popplewell selling his interest to Isaac Burdin and by January 1876 the partnership had sold the concern to Andrew Mooney.

Mooney came from Pontefract and continued to run the business for some 17 years. During this time he had to endure many financial difficulties and in 1880 in a desperate attempt to ensure company stability he wagered all his assets on the St. Ledger runner 'Robert The Devil'. Luckily for him the horse won and he was able to continue in business until 1893 when he sold the firm, then known as Hope Glassworks, to Samuel Addingley, a Pontefract liquorice producer.

Seven years later the business was sold to the partnership of Peter Gilston, J. W. Chadwick and Jabez Gregg. Peter Gilston dissolved his Knottingley partnership in 1902 and with the death of Chadwick in 1903 the business was eventually established as Gregg and Company in 1905.

Lax & Shaw (1891-1999)
South Accommodation Road and Belinda Street. Glass bottle and other glass container manufacturer. At one time they had three factories: the Albert (Albert Street off South Accommodation Road), Belinda (Belinda Street) and Clarence Glassworks (South Accommodation Road).

Thomas Lax and John Schofield Shaw began their company in 1892 at the Albert Glassworks. They produced high quality bottles and patented the "Feeder", a boat shaped babies bottle with a teat at each end. In 1899 they opened a second works on Belinda Street. It had been previously owned by the Doyle family, amongst others. The Doyle's were well known glass and china dealers. Lax and Shaw continued to flourish, buying a third site on Clarence Road. By the 1920s, despite modernisation, the Belinda Street works was found to be uneconomical and it closed in 1928. Production was moved to the South Accommodation Road. Lax & Shaw are now part of Allied Glass.