The company was established in 1926 on its current site by Mr. James M. Brown to manufacture zinc oxide. At that time the principal use of this material was in paints, rather than rubber as is the case today.

During the 1930s various cadmium compounds were also produced and amongst these were cadmium pigments. The growth of the plastic industry led to greatly increased demand for these pigments, with their unique combination of bright colours, excellent heat resistance and complete compatibility.

In 1945, James M. Brown sold half of his interest to the Tennant group of companies but he continued to run the company until he retired in 1954, when the company became wholly owned by Tennants.

Customers who were buying cadmium pigments for use in plastics were often also using metallic stearates as dispersing and lubricating agents. JMB therefore started to produce calcium, zinc and magnesium stearates so as to broaden the service it could offer.

Since 1981, JMB has been the exclusive UK agent for the ultramarine pigments manufactured by Nubiola in Spain.

For many years JMB had been supplying zinc oxide to Diroval Limited in Hyde for their production of zinc phosphate. The owners decided to retire and the company was bought by JMB, who transferred production of zinc phosphate to their own site in 1990.

In July 2000 the company was appointed as agents by Cabot for the sale of their speciality carbon blacks to the plastics industry.

The company also offers other products to complement those manufactured for sale to the plastics, rubber, paint and other industries. This Web-site gives full details of our product range.

We currently employ 96 people and have an annual turnover of over £7M.