Long standing contributors to the shared history of the brewing industry.
Mr Murphy set up and developed his chemical company at a time when the value of a scientific approach to brewing beer was in its infancy. Thus, our company Murphy & Son Ltd has been at the forefront of brewing innovation since 1887 and continues to evolve, advance and invent for the better of the industry.
1887
Our founder Mr Albert John Murphy commences as a sole trader, selling brewing materials.
1900s
During this period Mr Murphy set up the Bureau of Biotechnology trading out of Leeds, a concept way ahead of its time and begun developing bespoke liquor treatments, having recognised the importance of individual formations for specific beer varieties. Mr Murphy also became a founding member of the Brewers Guild and a lifelong supporter of the Benevolent Society.
1909
Mr Murphy acquired the Vanguard Chemical Company, a paint manufacturer, and subsequently developed Dukeron, a cask lining material dominant throughout the industry until metal casks become the preference in the 1950s. In 1909 Vanguard Chemical Company Limited was Incorporated.
1911
The name of the company is changed to Murphy & Lonsdal Ltd and first registered.
1914
War Notice: The directors of the company have unanimously passed the following resolutions in connection with the War which so seriously affects the vital interests and very existence of our Country and Empire.
1918
The name of the Company is changed again to Murphy & Son Ltd.
1919
The company is relocated to its present site in Nottingham at the splendid Hutchinson’s, Prince of Wales Brewery, now a listed building.
1920s
Expansion continued adding further processing aids to the portfolio, in particular copper finings, culminating in the NDB range standing for No Deposit Beers. Mr Murphy had other interests in the garden where the home and garden became a wholly owned subsidiary The Murphy Chemical Company.
1928
Following the purchase of the Wheathampstead House in 1928 a new factory for the Chemical Company was built in Wheathampstead, subsequently sold off to Glaxo in 1956.
1930s
A period of expansion ensured with preservatives, yeast foods, other fining agents and cleaning materials being added to the product range.
1940
Sadly Mr Murphy died and the future was handed over to the Trustees of A.J.Murphy deceased for the beneficial interest of his children and now grandchildren.
1940
It was our current Chairman Dr Andrew Carmichael father who became the first named Trustee, who’s own father had been a close friend of Mr Murphy.
1950s
The Company establishes itself as one of the eight key Allied Traders supplying the Industry at a time when most towns and cities boasted their own brewery.
1960s
Throughout the 1960s Murphy and Son Ltd were not only specialists in liquor treatments but also key suppliers of proteolytic enzymes, we formulated the NDB range.
1970s
This provide to be a very difficult decade for most kindred Allied Traders with brewery consolidations, with the decline in the head brewers dominance in decision making, price competition became fierce and by the 1980s many Allied Traders were struggling to continue profitable. Starting a gradual decline in volumes of beer brewed in this country.
1980s
During the 1980s, Murphys took the lead role in supporting the growth in new breweries, particularly micro breweries. These have grown strongly ever since, and Murphy & Son have changed and evolved to meet their growing needs. Now, through strategic alliances we can supply hops and malt, specialist yeasts and laboratory sundries to all kinds of breweries.
1982
We host inaugural meeting of SIBA at Wheathampstead House and foster our future support and encouragement to the new age of microbreweries. We set up Micro-Audit Ltd to provide a laboratory support service to microbreweries advising on best practice in the process, testing, liquor, wort, yeast and finished beers.
1984
Saw the start of a major refurbishment program at Nottingham to bring the yard and building into line with more modern manufacturing thinking, leaving the decline of the post war inheiratnace behind us.
1986
The Lord Mayor presented us with the Nottingham City Industry year award for the best contribution to the environment, culminating in the main building becoming grade 2 listed, and a major grant to refurbish the prized hexagonal brick chimney. In this year we also purchase the major minority interest in Sutton Phillips Ltd based in Stowmarket. This brought with it the Industry leading general cleaning material Antiformin into our portfolio. PCD (Pipe cleaning detergent) as well.
1987
Our centenary year!
1989
We sold Wheathampstead House and established the full technical team and laboratories in Nottingham. The late 1980s also see us start to address a formalised quality system.
1992
We move the Sutton & Phillips production to Nottingham. In the same year, we also acquire the BS5750 quality registration – leading to further upgrading of many of our manufacturing processes which has been an ongoing commitment of our corporate strategy ever since.
1998
The head office is relocated from Wheathampstead to Nottingham, consolidating the company on site.
At this time bought the brewing portfolio of Amyleau adding a range of enzymes, head retention agents and silicon anti-foams to our ever-increasing product range.
2000s
The 2000s saw the largest expansion of the company in just over a century since the start. Firstly, in 2002 our processing aids portfolio becomes complete with the acquisition of Savilles, enabling us to become a major manufacturer of isinglass finings
2004
The 2000s also see us start to promote ourselves as ‘the one stop shop’ and develop strategic alliance to supply malt and hops. In 2004 for example, our acquisition of Samuel Handley diversifies our customer base and takes us into the arena of manual handling and health and safety in the distribution side of moving, delivering and handling casks and kegs around the industry. This has since evolved into Murphy Manual Handling. In the same year, we also bought a controlling interest in Sutton & Phillips having previously manufactured and distributed their products which included the renowned cleaning materials Antiformin and Antiformin S our pipe cleaning detergent.
2008
In 2008, our acquisition of NBS Brewery Services further consolidated our position as a major player in the beverage industry and manual handling supply chain.
As new challenges emerge in our industry, we are committed to continued innovation. We have developed Ammonium Tetraformate Solution, to help in the safe disposal of brewing and distilling by-products. Together with the Zetol Corporation we have developed a range of Zetolite products to help reduce off flavours in beer and wine and enhance flavour characteristics.
2011
We purchased Catomance Technologies Ltd, a company which specialises in leather, textiles and paper industries. There are good synergies between our two companies and the UKAS accredited laboratories has allowed us to incorporate the same test for the brewing industry.
2012
Our new laboratory opened in 2012, attended by the mayor. Our new laboratories allowed us to expand our range of services to include tests for sulphur dioxide, bitterness, FAN, beta glucans and organic acids via our ‘Beer Master’, the first purchased in the UK. Alongside which, we enhanced our laboratory testing facilities with HPLC and an ICP-OES, allowing us such analyses as heavy metals and ethanol, ethylene and methanol.
2017
We made major changes to our site in the form of a sparkling new reception area, chilled warehouse and loading canopy.
2017
Our sister company in the United States of America was officially founded on the 7th December 2017, Murphy & Son Incorporated.
2018
We launched our new and improved Layer Board! Manufactured from High Density Polyethylene using Engineered Structural Foam with a new more user-friendly design. Stronger, longer lasting, more secure, safer to use and recyclable!
