Ronuk Limited was founded by Horace Fowler as a polish manufacturing company in
Portslade,
Brighton in 1896. In 1956, the company launched into the DIY market with Ronseal – Floor and Wood Seal. In 1960, Ronuk was purchased by Izal, itself owned by the
Newton Chambers Group in Sheffield. In 1964, the company moved to Chapeltown, Sheffield, where it still resides today. Known as Roncraft, it became a separate sales division of Izal in 1970 and was bought three years later by
Sterling Drug. In 1989, Sterling was bought by
Eastman Kodak until the multinational photographic company sold all of its
do it yourself business to the
New Yorkbased
investment bank Forstmann Little & Co. in 1994. Forstmann Little & Co. included Ronseal within its Thompson Minwax Holding Corp. business, which it sold in 1997 to Sherwin-Williams. Sherwin-Williams purchased the
Polish woodcare company Altax in February 2009, and integrated it into the Ronseal unit. ==References==