JENOLITE

Founded in 1939 by John H. Lawrence as a specialist in rust inhibitors and converters, expanding into primers, paints and other metal-treatment products. During WWII and after, Jenolite supplied anti-corrosion products to the UK Ministry of Supply and Ministry of Defence — including for guns and machinery in North Africa, ships' paints and aircraft degreasers across all three British Armed Forces. By the 1950s the business had overseas manufacturing sites in the US, Australia and Belgium, supporting NATO equipment reconditioning, and the brand was chosen by the French to refurbish the Eiffel Tower in 1955. Jenolite products have since been used on Donald Campbell's Bluebird, the SS Great Britain and the renovation of Big Ben. The company changed hands multiple times — into Duckham Oils Ltd in the 1960s, then Permalite, Armour Trust, Bluecol Brands and Pennzoil Quaker State, ending up with Shell Chemicals by 2005. In 2013 a father-and-son team, the Wildon family, bought the brand back from Shell and relaunched it as Jenolite (UK) Limited (registered 22 October 2013) at Unit 10 Albone Way, Albone Industrial Estate, Biggleswade, Bedfordshire. The relaunched company has since rebuilt Jenolite into an e-commerce-led business with a range of 400+ products spanning rust removers, rust converters, primers, paints, sealers, wax oils and lacquers, with international sales reportedly up over 500% since 2021.