User:NatPurl/Hunter Plastics Limited

Hunter Plastics Limited is a major manufacturer and supplier of plastic plumbing products based in south east London.

Origins
Eddy Edmonson (1917 - 2007) was a qualified architect and surveyor and joined the Royal Artillery in World War II. At the end of the War he was stationed in Turin, Italy, and became interested in a nearby factory where the Germans had been experimenting with plastic injection moulding. Returning home after the War, Eddy rented a corner of a factory in Hither Green and set up his own plastic moulding company, Plastiers Limited (Lewisham) on 18th October 1946. He carried out early pioneering work with a variety of plastic moulded products and machinery. He trade-moulded plastic products for many different applications and customers, from table mats, brooches and earings, ring cases (for wedding and engagement rings) and plastic chandeliers.

Plastic Plumbing
With the move to Belvedere in 1962, production began on extruding rainwater gutter and pipes. All through the 1960's Plastiers began acquiring and registering businesses, and in 1965 they created The Hunter Group. In 1966 the Replant Works of Black Clawson, a printing machinery manufacturer in Nathan Way, Plumstead became available and Eddy saw the opportunity to bring all the Hunter Group companies together. Hunter Plastics Limited remains on this site to this day.

Hunter Plastics Limited
Hunter Plastics first launched its own range of PVC rainwater, soil and waste products in 1967 called the Hunter Series 1970+.

In 1968 Hunter Plastics Limited purchased another site in Nathan Way where they planned to house the extrusion hall, but this never happened and this building is now the Hunter fittings plant.

Ater a heart attack. Eddy passed the business onto his sons. Ray Edmonson was appointed MD later that year.

In the 1970's the company focused more on rainwater and drainage products and a PVC underground drainage system was added to the portfolio in 1971. Hunters quickly gained a reputation for its superior rainwater systems and was the first company to launch gutter fittings that did not rely on adhesive to hold the rubber seals in place. Throughout the 1970s Hunter was very successful, At the time PVCu was displacing traditional materials cast iron gutters and soil pipes, lead waste pipes. earthenware soil pipes and so the business grew every year as traditional materials lost market share.

Entering the 1980s, competition in the PVC industry was increasing and the Hunter Group made some acquisitions to spread their product mix, among them Greenwood Airvac (1982), Waterloo Grill Company and Waterloo BV (1983). In the late 80s the Group appointed its first non-Edmonson Managing Director Ron Broome (who had previously worked with Hunter on a project with Tate and Lyle in Nigeria). In 1990 Chris Nunn was appointed as MD.

In 1991 the second generation of the Edmonson family sold Hunter Plastics to ETEX, a company with global interests in building products. During that time they redesigned and relaunched many of the products. with particular emphasis on Surefit rainwater fittings that incorporates many novel features. they were able to exploit the knowledge within the ETEX Group and in 1998 launched an extensive range of high quality plastic products for plumbers under the brand name Plumbers Bits.

In 2003 Etex plastics manufacturing companies were reorganised, Hunter Plastics forming part of the world-wide Aliaxis group. Throughout this time. Hunter Plastics has always put customer service at the forefront of its strategy and today prides itself on being an award winning supplier.

In March 2006 Aliaxis took the decision to have both Hunter and Multikwik operating under the same umbrella It was felt that as two of the biggest and best-respected names in the plastic plumbing products sector by merging their production, sales and administration functions, it would make a more commercially sound future for both brands and ensure the customer the best possible service.