The company was founded by
Scottish entrepreneur
George Kynoch who opened a
percussion cap factory in
Witton, West Midlands in 1862, trading as
Kynoch. The business soon diversified, manufacturing goods ranging from soap and bicycle components to
non-ferrous metals, but by the early 20th century it had developed particular expertise in
metallurgy. The company, by then known as
Nobel Explosives, was one of the four businesses that merged in 1927 to create
Imperial Chemical Industries. In the 1950s the company's researchers perfected the process for producing
titanium on a commercial basis. The name
Imperial Metal Industries Limited (IMI for short) was adopted on the 100th anniversary of the firm in 1962. The company announced in October 2013 that a decade-long programme of transformation had been completed with the disposal of two non-core subsidiaries to
Berkshire Hathaway for £690m. The disposal of the Cornelius Group, a beverage-dispensing machine business, together with the disposal of a marketing intelligence business, would enable the company to focus on its control valve making business. In November 2022, it was announced IMI had acquired the
Blackburn-based smart thermostatic control manufacturer, Heatmiser, for £110 million. ==Sectors==