Amersham PLC

Amersham PLC started life as Thorium Ltd., a company which was set up just before the First World War to produce luminous paint for the defence establishment. Thorium Ltd. purchased Chilcote House in Amersham from the Ministry of Supply in 1946 to managed what had become ‘the national centre for the processing and distribution of radium, radon and artificial radioactive substances for scientific, medical and industrial purposes’. Additional land was acquired and laboratories were built.

The name was changed to The Radiochemical Centre in 1949 and in 1950 became an outstation of the Atomic Energy Research Establishment at Harwell. By 1957, the Radiochemical Centre’s annual sales had exceeded £1million for the first time, and this strong growth continued during the 1960’s, with the Centre becoming a base for scientists to turn raw materials into substances for medical and industrial use. The Centre installed the world’s first commercial cyclotron at Amersham in 1966, the first to be designed and operated solely for isotope production. The cyclotron performed well, becoming the source for isotopes such as sodium-22, cobalt-57, arsenic-74 and cadmium-109. On 1 April 1971, The Radiochemical Centre became a limited company, with the first report showing sales of £6 million, 62% of which were export.

In 1982, The Radiochemical Centre was renamed Amersham International Ltd. On 17 February 1982 the company became the first Thatcher Government privatisation, as Amersham International plc. During the 1980s the value of the company’s assets continued to grow, with Research and Development continuing at a high level and a number of new factories and buildings opening.

In August 1997, Amersham International formed a joint venture with Pharmacia and Upjohn to form Amersham Pharmacia Biotech. Shortly afterwards Amersham International merged with Nycomed of Norway to form Nycomed Amersham plc, though the pharmaceutical business of Nycomed was sold in 1999, following which the company was renamed as Amersham PLC.

Amersham PLC was eventually acquired by General Electric for £5.7bn in 2004, creating the first General Electric business with headquarters outside the US, a leading global healthcare technology and services company, employing more than 50,000 people in 100 countries.