Is Liverpool’s oldest manufacturing business also our best kept secret?

Most of us will never have heard the name RS Clare before.

Yet this Liverpool born-and-bred, family-run company (one of the oldest in the UK) has been greasing the wheels of industry - and shaping all our lives - for centuries.

And make no mistake, RS Clare^[1] is as innovative and ingenious as it was when it was founded at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution 275 years ago, with sights set firmly on both global and national horizons.

Become familiar with this brand and, you too, are likely to want to join in with its celebrations: RS Clare is Liverpool’s oldest manufacturing business and specialist in lubricants, greases and road markings, so it’s left its mark on our roads, rail tracks - and even household products.

And its products also have their place in history for contributing to Britain’s war effort.

“Not many people have heard of RS Clare,” admits chairman, Ian Meadows. “We make grease for several major oil companies, but we are not known by the public. We are also a big supplier to the UK rail network but again, we’re unknown because they are not interested in what goes on the rail.

“I say to people, ‘Do you ever go on the railways?’ and they say ‘Yes' and I say ‘Do you ever go round a bend on the railways? Well, we lubricate {the tracks} to help reduce noise and keep the rail tracks safe for you.'

"On our 250th anniversary, one of my ambitions was to say ‘Clare’s is an extraordinary outfit’. Not only are we now 275, but we have changed fundamentally many times. That's why we survive and we should tell people about it. And so we do.”

Sixth generation and current managing director, David Meadows, agrees: His eyes are firmly on the future direction of the company. Expanding global markets and eco-friendly solutions are very much a top priority.

He said: “We have been innovative and developed innovative products across generations and we are still doing that today. And we see the global rail sector as a big opportunity for growth in the future.

“Late last year, we acquired a Swiss Rail company, Igralub, to expand on our capabilities in rail with application systems and monitoring to complement our high-performance lubricants.”

Did you know?

RS Clare invested £1.6m into a technical centre innovation hub at RS Clare’s Liverpool Headquarters in 2019. Its cutting edge testing facilities are even able to imitate various weather conditions for different climates.

The company is investing heavily in R&D, bringing new innovative ecologically sensitive products to market, built a new technical centre in Liverpool in 2020^[2] and is currently embarking on the largest capital project in the company’s history, extending the grease plant and increasing capacity by more than 50% on its Liverpool site.

Here, we take a closer look at the fascinating past, present and future of RS Clare, discover a deep philanthropic vein - and reveal some interesting facts along the way:

An illustrious history

The Clare family business has come a long way since it was founded by chemist and drysalter Richard Shaw Clare, on Mann Island (by Liverpool docks) in 1748, with 275 years of history for the Clare, Wilson and Meadow’s families. The RS Clare Group encompasses RS Clare Holdings Ltd, Wilson & Scott and RS Clare Co. & Ltd, with their recent acquisition of Swiss company, Igralub within the rail sector.

From small beginnings provisioning ships, Clare's began to distil raw turpentine imported from the Carolinas in North America. 50 years later, tar distillation began along with rosin manufacture. Apart from trading tallow as a lubricant, the company focused on tar derivatives – phenols for disinfectant, creosote for wood preservation, naphthalene and road tar.

At the start of the 20th Century, Clare’s Tarco became renowned as the most effective dust laying compound and was manufactured for local authorities under licence throughout the country.

And during the 1940s, Tarcoline road paint and then Plastaline (the world’s first thermoplastic road marking material) became key products. Despite being invented in 1933, thermoplastic road marking is still the predominant form of road marking today in UK and beyond.

Clare's has long been a byword for lubricants, and 25 years ago came a focus on speciality greases that would solve operational problems, delivering significant benefits and cost savings to clients in the rail and upstream Oil & Gas sectors (it has supplied London Underground and Network Rail with track lubricants for more than 50 years).

Did you know?

RS Clare has clocked up numerous awards but its first, The Ballymenagh Trophy for The most successful laying composition, TARCO, in 1907 is now on loan to The Museum of Liverpool.

Wartime efforts

RS Clare applied the first give way signs in Sloane Square to protect people from road traffic incidents during World War 1. In 1917, during World War I, motor vehicles were forced to limit headlights to narrow slits so as not to be seen by the German Zeppelins and bombers.

RS Clare was asked to apply white stop bars to all the entrances to Sloane Square in London. Accidents were much reduced – and the road markings industry was born. After the war, these spread throughout the world.

RS Clare and the world stage

RS Clare now has a global sales team which spans the US, the Middle East and Asia with a global network of distributors for the RS Clare branded special lubricants. It continues to innovate and automate.

Did you know?

RS Clare were the first to develop a specially formulated lubricant that extends the life of curved rail tracks!

Sustainability

RS Clare is always looking for ways to problem solve and that includes its impact on the environment. The company has offset all its carbon emissions for the past two years, is committed to doing so in the future and has lowered its emissions where possible as part of its Net Zero goal.

New product development centres around biodegradability and renewable sourced raw materials which, where possible, are formulated to meet the European Ecolabel accreditation, the most stringent in environmental standards.

A philanthropic core

RS Clare plays a prominent role in our community and supports many local charities including Maggies Merseyside, and Catalyst^[3]. Last year, the two company flats in Liverpool were renovated to house two Ukrainian families, whilst also giving them jobs in the factory.

The families have just had their one-year anniversary in Liverpool, the children are settled in school - they are having a big, positive impact on the community and love their new lives in Liverpool.

Time to celebrate

The company’s anniversary was marked with an employee family celebration at The Isla Gladstone Conservatory in Stanley Park. All employees and their families enjoyed an action-packed day, with gifts and raffle prizes and something for everyone. See the video here^[4].

RS Clare is based in Stanhope Street in Liverpool’s Baltic Triangle. Find out more at www.rsclare.com^[5]. And the next time you see the white and yellow lines on the road, or travel smoothly and quietly on a train, think of this amazing family-owned Liverpool business and the incredible 275-year history and journey they have been on.

References

1. ^{^} RS Clare (www.rsclare.com)
2. ^{^} technical centre in Liverpool in 2020 (www.cia.org.uk)
3. ^{^} Maggies Merseyside, and Catalyst (www.rsclare.com)
4. ^{^} See the video here (youtu.be)
5. ^{^} www.rsclare.com (www.rsclare.com)