EC Pigments, Stockport - July 2011
Visited with fishbrain.
Visited with fishbrain.
This one has been on the "to do list" for far too long, so when fishbrain got his usual midweek twitchfest and demanded that we go for a mooch, I thought to myself cleverly, "...if he's going to force me up at 5am for another pre-work ramble, we might as well make it somewhere that will coat our clothes in a gloriously suspicious array of yellows, reds and oranges."
Feeling subdued, sleepy and rather silly, seemingly standing on every piece of shattered glass in the entire complex, we explored the place clumsily for a good couple of hours, totally undisturbed. Pigeons exluded. We then went to work looking like we'd just had the worst spray tan in history, fully clothed.
History
I couldn't seem to find much that wasn't replicated everywhere else in other reports on the history of the building itself, but it's last occupiers were EC Pigments.
EC (European Colour) Pigments manufacture a wide range of azo and basic dye complex pigments used in a variety of applications including the production of printing inks, paint, plastic and artists' colours.
Google doesn't seem to bring too much up on how this place became abandoned, but if you're brave enough to venture to page 3 or 4 of the results, you can start to piece together an image of how this place met it's demise.
A fire at the factory was reported in 2008 and the MEN/ Stockport Express article below alludes to the place being operational at the time.
http://menmedia.co.uk/stockportexpress/news/s/1066856_up_in_smoke
I also found these quotations that seem to suggest the need for consolidation and industry pressure in recent years might have led to eventual abandonment of the small complex...
"...We are still here! EC Pigments USA Inc. is no longer operating under the direction of our UK sister company. We have always been a separate entity; now we have complete control of our daily functions and are functioning as a stand alone US entity."
"After many changes in 2008 and early 2009 we are now the strongest company we have been in many years...."
Source: Entrepreneur - Start, run and grow your business.
"Steve Smith, president of EC Pigments USA Inc., said that 2010 was an improvement over 2009, but the trend was uncertain and uneven.“We see customers acting very cautiously,†Mr. Smith said. “The industry was further weakened in Europe and the U.S. as there were further plant closures and consolidations. There are a few bright spots, but in general any signs of recovery are tentative and fragile."
So anyway, on with some pictures...
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Thanks for viewing,
tweek
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Thanks for viewing,
tweek
