Formation Dexion Ltd (from the Greek for 'right') was established in 1937 in London by Australia-born engineer and printer
Demetrius Comino, originally to deliver printing-related products. In solving problems within his printing business, Comino patented several products to improve efficiency in the printing process. However, his dissatisfaction with the poor versatility of traditional wooden
shelving used to store paper and other materials led him to experiment with steel strips to devise a reusable shelving system. In 1939 he commissioned
Birmingham-based
Accles & Pollock to manufacture an initial batch of angled sections made of steel with slots cut down one side and a long groove cut down the other. The
Second World War delayed further development of the product until 1947 when Comino was finally able to finance and open a small factory in
Chingford, north-east London.
Growth of business After initially disappointing sales, production increased to 50,000 feet per week in 1949, generating a business turnover of £500,000 that year. In 1950, production of Dexion strip reached 125,000 ft/week, and a new Dexion factory was opened in
Enfield. and competition from rival manufacturers producing similar products, Dexion Ltd grew rapidly. By 1956, the company's turnover exceeded £2m, it employed 500 UK workers in three UK factories, and had a further 200 employees in Australia, Belgium and Canada, plus licencees in France,
Chile, Spain,
Argentina and the United States. Following the
1953 Ionian earthquake in Greece, Dexion donated 20,000 feet of its product for new housing (a prototype house was designed within three weeks). "Operation Ulysses" attracted worldwide attention, including an article in
Time magazine and
British Pathe newsreels. The main scoreboard and television platform at the
1956 Winter Olympics' ski stadium at
Cortina d'Ampezzo was constructed from Dexion, and
Ghana's independence celebrations in 1957 involved grandstands for 10,000 people, six miles of crush barriers and 500 bunting poles – all made of Dexion. In addition to the slotted angle product, Dexion developed other systems.
Antony Barrington Brown (well known as a photographer and explorer) joined Dexion in the mid-1950s and devised Speedframe: square-section metal tubes which could be quickly fitted together to assemble tables and benches; the system made over £100 million over the next decade.
Flotation and acquisition In 1968, the company was floated on the
London Stock Exchange, in one of the three largest issues that year, buoyed by results showing a 40% increase in world sales to £14m and a new record profit of £1.133m. A year later, turnover reached £21m, with profits rising to £1.5m. valuing Dexion at £4 million less than its 1968 flotation price. Comino, by this point Dexion's chairman, retired, though he retained a place on the company's board until 1978. to the English investment company
Apax Partners. In 1999, after clearing European anti-monopoly concerns, Apax and Norwegian industrial investment company
Aker RGI merged their warehouse technologies and material handling units to form the Dexion Group Ltd (Apax) and Constructor AS (Aker); in 2000, the Dexion Group was acquired by Aker and merged with Constructor, while the Australia/Asia Pacific operations were sold. In 2007 Dexion generated a turnover of €70m and, as part of the Aker Material Handling group of companies, was sold to the Swedish finance investor
Altor Equity Partners. In January 2018, Constructor Group A/S (which in 2010 had a turnover of €100m from operations in 30 European countries) ==Dexion pensions controversy==