Rotunda Ltd, Manchester Rd
The company works was situated on the north side of Manchester Rd, near the Derby St corner, and it lay between Manchester Rd and Holland St.
An early reference to Rotunda Ltd occurs in the telephone directory for 1928 where it is listed as Rotunda Ltd, Proofers, of Manchester Rd, Denton.
The term, ‘Proofers’, continued throughout the course of the company’s existence. Advertisements by the company show that they were rubber manufacturers and proofers, specialising in cable wrappings,
footwear materials, insulating tapes, etc.
A significant product was electrical insulating tape, which is an adhesive tape used to insulate electrical joints. The tape was originally made of cloth saturated with adhesive material manufactured using gutta-percha. Later it began to be made with a range of plastic materials with polyvinyl chloride (PVC) being the most prevalent. By 1937 the company was marketing their ‘Slipknot’ insulating tape. Another product they marketed was ‘Seamtape’, which is a self-amalgamating (or self-vulcanising) tape which, when stretched and wrapped around cables, electrical joints, hoses and pipes, combines itself into a strong, seamless, rubbery, waterproof and electrically insulating layer.
Left: Advertisement for ‘Slipknot’ insulating tapes, 1945.
Right: A box of PVC insulating tape for export to Germany and the word ‘Isolierband’ on the lid means ‘Insulating’.
In 1933 a second works was opened on Wilson St, Collyhurst, Manchester, which was adjacent to the intersection of Oldham Rd and Queen’s Rd. This remained open until 1975/77. Over the period, 5 December 1936 to 23 December 1937, Rotunda Ltd was negotiating with the Earl of Wilton of Heaton Hall for additional land on Holland St. This implies that the business was doing well at this time. In 1950/51 the postal address of the works was changed from Manchester Rd to Holland St.
By 1961 the company was part of British Insulated Callender’s Cables Ltd (BICC) and in 1987 it was acquired by the Scapa Group plc.
In 1983/84 the company moved to premises on Clayton Ln, Openshaw, Manchester, which is between Ashton New Rd and Ashton Old Rd. Subsequently, the Denton works was demolished to make way for the construction of the M67 motorway.