Wychem – in the beginning
On the 50th anniversary of chemical manufacturer Wychem its founder, Geoffrey Fuller, reflects on its early beginnings and subsequent success.
AUTHOR: Geoffrey Fuller
Having worked in several laboratories, both in industry and academia, I noticed how difficult it was to obtain small amounts of unlisted compounds, let alone complex molecules. The concept of custom synthesis was almost unknown as there were no companies operating on a small scale – whereas today we have university spinouts and start-ups. I was told in no uncertain terms by my employer that there was no market for such compounds, but I decided to have a go anyway.
The tricky bit was getting started, and in the absence of suitable premises it became clear that a lab would have to be built. This was not ideal, needing time and money, however, whilst I was building the lab I was also able to acquire suitable glassware and some analytical equipment.
Then came the question as to what to call the operation. After checking the availability of some names with Companies House we settled on the name Wychem. The name was derived from the town where we based – Wickhambook – and chemistry. It also seemed acceptable to potential customers. At this time I began working on diazonium chemistry, in order to synthesise difficult to obtain isomers of halogenated benzoic acids, using the Sandmeyer reaction.
Having set up our equipment I started approaching contacts, friends, friends of friends and so on, this was initially slow – not to mention hard going. Business picked up as projects were completed – nothing helps to get more business that a job well done.
After a couple of years we were finding space a problem. By this point we could only use the lab space for working – there was no room for storage. This problem was resolved when an acquaintance, who happened to live only a few hundred yards from our lab, mentioned that he had a building ‘not far away’. The good news was that it was not far away and cheap, the bad news that it had no services or planning consent. However with local support we obtained permission to commence chemistry. We still use the site to this day – it is currently Wychem’s manufacturing unit.
As time went by we obtained larger projects, from major companies, which enabled us to purchase more and larger equipment both new and second hand, often from customers moving site. During this period we further developed our Sandmeyer know-how to produce m-chlorobenzoic acid on a larger scale, and to handle hydrogen peroxide 85% (w/w) on a 30/40 litre per day scale to produce m-chloroperbenzoic.
We also expanded our range of halobenzoic acids and, using a variation of the diazonium chemistry, we synthesised compounds such as 1,3-difluorobenzene (for fluconazole). We were thus able to improve and enlarge our analytical facilities, which in turn opened the way to more valuable business – often on a continuing basis. Customers often shipped their intermediates to us for further processing, which helped eased our cash flow.
At the same time we expanded the production of larger scale custom projects, such as PEG esters for the cosmetics industry – a range of silanes on a multi ton per week scale. This ever closer relationship with major chemical companies fed our development lab with further projects, widening the type of chemistry we undertook. An interesting example is the use of chlorosulphonic acid to synthesise chlorosulphonyl diazonaphthoquinones, used in the lithographic industry, first on a lab scale then on single drum (275 kg) scale. Later as an extension we began to produce a range of compounds used as couplers.
After we had been operating for 12 years the issue of a lack of space again became pressing. We could not purchase any land surrounding our site – there was no opposition to us doing so except from the owner of the land. He was unwilling to sell!
Around this time one of our regular customers – Vickers Ltd – approached us asking if we were willing to sell the company. They were in the FT 30 index at the time, they had capital and an interest in diversification, and one of their divisions was already using our technology.
And so the company was sold, and has now just celebrated its 50th anniversary.
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