Paul Winn & Company was founded in 1883 by David Winn’s grandfather, Paul Winn, with Frank Coales joining in 1916 and becoming a partner in the business in 1933. Following Paul Winn’s death in 1946, after having been Chairman of the company for 63 years, Mr Coales became Chairman of the company.

“The initial capital was only £30 and he was buying coke from the gas companies, which at that time was a waste product after burning coal to manufacture town gas. This was exported to Germany,” says David Winn.

Mr Winn says that his grandfather’s company became an export/import trading company dealing with many commodities including sugar and glucose.

Between 1900 and 1920, the company had its first venture into manufacturing, making soda crystals and selling one tonne lots to hotels and hospitals for washing and washing-up.

From 1920 to 1940, capital was required in order to go into the large scale manufacture of glazed tiles for bathrooms, shop fronts and fireplaces, and this part of the company was floated along with the Barking Brassware Company, and continued to trade as a public company known as Winn Industries.

Denso anti-corrosion tape was first manufactured in 1933, with the tape (also a gas-proof tape) used to repair fractured gas pipes in major cities that had been bombed during the Second World War.

In 1944, Winn and Coales’ head office was destroyed in the City of London and the company was forced to operate out of its Beckenham, Kent premises where another subsidiary, Beeney Cigarette Lighters, manufactured the famous wartime utility lighters for the forces.

David Winn joined the company in 1965 and became Deputy Chairman in 1968. In the same year, he assisted in forming its first overseas joint venture company in conjunction with Gatic Australia: Denso Australia. Following this, Denso New Zealand, Denso South Africa, Denso Canada and Denso USA were established.

Over the 125 years of Winn & Coales’ existence, the company has only had three Chairmen. Frank Coales was still Chairman at the time of his death, aged 102. Mr Coales had his 99th birthday in Sydney and conducted his last Annual General Meeting at the age of 101. Therefore, the company had traded for 108 years with only two Chairmen and Mr Coales served the company for just over 75 years. David Winn was appointed Chairman in 1991 and is still only the third in 125 years.

When asked how the Chairmen of the company have had such long staying power, Mr Winn says it can be put down to “Denso anti-corrosion products, which extend and prolong life, and it is rumoured that the Chairmen have Denso Paste on their toast each morning rather than Vegemite!”

On a more serious note, Mr Winn explains the most rewarding aspect of his 43 years service with the company, “To have seen the company grow from purely a UK-based organisation to an international company out of profits generated with little borrowing enabling us to remain an independent private company, and also being able to hand out well over 100 long service awards to colleagues.”

Mr Winn says it was challenging growing up with ties to the corrosion prevention industry but he never considered working anywhere else. He says he has learnt a lot, although most importantly, that nothing happens in a company, whether selling a product or service, until an order has been secured and paid for.

He says the most satisfying aspect of his job has been continuing his ambitions for the company and watching it expand into new geographical areas, while still remaining independent.

Mr Winn notes that external factors, such as more and more plastic pipes being used underground, has meant that Denso has needed to find new anti-corrosion applications such as below water Marine Piling and the SeaShield range. He says that Denso has also overcome this by casting its eyes upwards instead of downwards into trenches, and have been developing products to service above ground applications such as structural steelwork, bridges, storage tanks and wind turbines.

Mr Winn sees the most challenging pipeline project that Winn & Coales has worked on to date as the Kinder Morgan pipeline in the USA. He says that 70,000 litres of Protal Epoxy was supplied for the coating of welded joints and horizontal directional drilling lengths. Major challenges faced on the project included extreme weather variances, from sub-zero temperatures to over 100 degrees Fahrenheit; continual training of coating crews to ensure all personnel were competent to apply the product; high wind speeds of 50 miles per hour; and, environmental challenges through national parks.

Denso has met the challenges faced in Australia by expanding its product base to ensure that the requirements of the country’s conditions are met. Managing Director of Denso Australia Paul Taylor explains how the company will continue to meet this demand in the future, “Pipelines, now and in the future, will be built to keep pace with surging energy demands. Delivery schedules during construction mandate that suppliers such as ourselves have to consistently deliver, not only in terms of product quality but to demonstrate the flexibility to produce a range of products simultaneously, for projects across the length and breadth of the country.

“The industry is going for gas further down into the ground, particularly beneath the sea floor, and this results in higher pipeline operating temperatures. Our product development is specifically geared to this fact, ensuring that as the barriers are pushed back, we keep pace with our customers demands.”

When asked what sort of issues are faced when protecting Australian pipelines compared to other countries, Mr Taylor says that Australia is similar to countries such as the United States and Canada where Winn & Coales have an established history.

“Pipelines in all of these countries are built on a grand scale, and the terrain and climate are often tough – not just for the construction force, but for the materials and equipment used on the pipeline.

“Denso’s philosophy has always been to give our customers something that will not only work, but will be easy to use. It will also be designed to work for a very long time! When you think about it, it doesn’t really matter where in the world the pipeline is, or how big or small the project is, it needs to be built on time, and it needs products that work, and work well.”

Currently, all Denso products are manufactured in accordance within quality management system BS EN ISO 9001:2000, with extensive testing carried out, on every batch manufactured, in the company’s laboratory. Mr Taylor says that typical tests include weight, tensile strength, elongation at break, cathodic disbondment resistance and dielectric strength. Third party independent testing is also carried out when requested.

Mr Taylor says that in the future there will be a demand for surface tolerant coatings that have a low impact on the environment and those applying them. In addition, he says that surface coatings will be expected to deliver even more efficient life cycle value and cope with ever increasing extremities in temperature and location.