History
Jones Stroud Insulations

It was not long before the first successes were being enjoyed because this was a completely new development in weaving machinery which made it possible to produce elastic and rigid narrow fabrics. More space was needed in order to meet the ever increasing demand for such speciality textiles and in 1927, larger premises were acquired in Long Eaton. The new factory was called Vida Mills - after the family bulldog Vida - and "Vida" soon became an international trademark synonymous with quality high-grade narrow fabrics. Some 3,000 braiding machines were in service by 1930 and the annual production of elastic braid from these machines was about 52 million metres.

A. E. Stroud died in 1940 and the shares were formally transferred to William and Horace Jones. The company continued to expand and the production of narrow glass tapes and woven glass fabrics for electrical and engineering applications was soon started up in new buildings in Long Eaton. This was to be the foundation stone for the manufacture of electrical insulation materials – the company’s main division today.

In 1956/57 Philip Jones and David Jones - sons of William Jones - were appointed to the board of directors and in 1958 the company became public, being quoted on the London Stock Exchange.

Jones Stroud purchased the Preston-based company of “IST - Insulating Sleevings and Tapes in 1962. IST was, at the time, one of the largest customers for Jones Stroud glass fabrics. These were used in the manufacture of IST mica products.

The concentration in the field of manufacturing was already well advanced. The "Queens Mill" textile factory in Long-ridge, near Preston, which was standing empty was purchased in 1965 in order to create a base for new production facilities with adequate room for further expansion. The braiding machines were moved from Long Eaton to Longridge in 1969. Once the new factory at Longridge was completed in 1972 the entire sleevings production was transferred to this site.

In 1973, so as to strengthen the company group, the factories at Longridge and Preston became a division of Jones Stroud & Co. to operate as Jones Stroud Insulations (JSI).

The importance of mica products for JSI continued to grow and these products became - next to the already well-established sleevings - the group with the largest turn-over from sales. So as to expand this range of already highly valued products onto the world market, the mica and prepreg operations of "Micanite and Insulators", based in Trafford Park, Manchester, were acquired in 1986 and subsequently integrated into the Longridge plant.

The beginning of the Ninety’s saw a concentration of all JSI manufacturing at the plant at Longridge. A large investment programme was started to further strengthen market positions in the fields of Electrical Insulations, Fibre Composites and Consumer Products. Amongst others, this included increasing floor space for manufacturing purposes by some 3,000 square metres so as to make more room for the production of woven electrical tapes and to house the new high-speed braiding machines which were being purchased to replace the original Jones Stroud designed braiding machines.

In 1998, JSI acquired "Marflex Insulations", the Uttoxeter-based company specializing in silicone-insulated cables and thermal insulations. Operations continued as a separate division known as JSI-MARFLEX.

Jones Stroud Insulations (JSI) was acquired in September 2000 by August Krempel Soehne GmbH + Co., a German company. The necessity for this became apparent because of the advancing globalisation. JSI needed a strong partner with a world-wide sales and distribution network in its own core markets. By acquiring this very well positioned English Company, KREMPEL was able to capitalize on the opportunity thereby given to complement its product range in the field of electrical insulations and composite materials while at the same time, consolidating its own position as one of the world’s leading international suppliers.

The healthy and co-operative partnerships with customers, the extensive services provided as well as the ongoing engineering activities to develop better materials constitute a guarantee for growth for JSI and the entire KREMPEL-GROUP.