The John Hogg
Group first started manufacturing liquid Marker Concentrates for
colouring and marking “middle distillate fuels” in 1981. Ever
since we have focussed upon this same market, increasing our expertise
and expanding the product range, and become one of the world's
leading specialist supplier of Dye and Marker Solutions for the
petroleum Industry.
The Belfast
connection
This history of
the Group goes back to 1890, when the original Mr John Hogg set up a
business in Belfast, Northern Ireland to trade in flax, the raw
material that is used to make linen. To this day, the John Hogg Group has
been one of the leading suppliers of Irish Linen, still very
fashionable apparel ware.
The Group
diversified their interests in the 1950s and became authorised distributors of
hydrocarbon fuel for Shell, first in Northern Ireland, then in North
West England and North Wales.
Setting
up in Manchester
By 1981, the
Group had a strong connection with the chemical petroleum industry and
invested in a site in Trafford Park, Manchester to use as a base for
the related activity of supplying home insulation. Soon afterwards the
Company saw the opportunity to supply Gas Oil Marker Concentrate (GOMC),
in the UK, to the major Petroleum Companies.
Our entry into this industry was welcomed by the petroleum
industry as we offered a new reliable source of supply. GOMC is used
in the UK to differentiate Gas Oil from the Road Diesel that carries
much higher rates of excise tax. It is an essential element of keeping
an oil refinery running and helps to protect revenue for the
Government.
Exporting
By 1989 the
company had established a reputation for reliability and had gained
market share in the UK. Clearly we needed to look abroad in order to
grow and were initially successful in Hong Kong, adapting the GOMC to
meet local specifications.
During the 90s
we increased the range of our products and successfully expanded our
business in Europe and international markets including South America,
Africa, parts of Asia and Australasia. In 1997 we won the prestigious
“Queens Award for Industry” in recognition of our export
achievements (then about 70% exported).
The
move into dye manufacturing
In 1999 we
invested in one of our largest dye suppliers in Greece, building a new
plant and introducing a quality management system.
Over the next
few years this investment enabled John Hogg to participate fully in
the major expansion of the market at the time of the introduction of
the Euromarker in 2002. We believe we were more effective that any
other organisation at helping the European Petroleum industry
assimilate the new regulations and materials.
Recent
history
John Hogg
continues to consolidate its manufacturing interests and has recently
invested in a new Dye and Marker manufacturing venture in Asia to maintain our
competitiveness in today’s “Global Market.” The Manchester
headquarters is continuing to produce all the Marker Concentrate
blends needed and to provide the high standard of customer service
required by the Petroleum Industry for the foreseeable future.
|
