| Albert John Murphy was acting as a successful selling agent for a variety of brewing materials when he started up his own company in 1887. The original company was called "The Vanguard Chemical Co" and was based in Leeds. The company was later to change its name to Murphy & Lonsdale in 1911, and finally to Murphy & Son Ltd in 1918. The company went into production with a range of bisulphite products and preservative materials. In water treatment for brewing A.J. Murphy quickly realised the importance of formulating for the individual brewery's requirements. This policy has been continued to the present day, when treatments are supplied not only for individual brewery requirements but also for specific beer qualities.
Mr Murphy's interest in wort fining and beer stabilising agents was already well formed when he started and his records show a wide range of materials and formulations. Over the years, research has led to development of copper fining agents and new formulations have been developed to meet the differing needs. The copper fining agents were later to extend into enzymic beer stabilising field. The sale of enzymes now includes those for use in the mash-tun.
Mr Murphy set up his company and developed it, in the years when the value of a scientific approach to brewing beer was starting to be recognised. By the turn of the century his laboratories, called "The Bureau of Biotechnology" offered comprehensive analyses of brewing materials, water, worts and beers.
By the end of the First World War the factory in Leeds was bursting at the seams, so he purchased the "Prince of Wales" Brewery from Home Brewery in Nottingham in 1919 and proceeded to set up his enlarged production unit at Old Basford.
In 1928 Wheathampstead House, near St Albans was purchased also, and the London offices and laboratories were moved to the new location. The staff of the Bureau of Biotechnology was finally moved to Wheathampstead in 1940. The same year Mr. Murphy died.
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In 1987 Murphy & Son Ltd. became the largest shareholder in Sutton & Phillips Ltd. Based in Stowmarket, Suffolk. Sutton & Phillips had an excellent reputation for the manufacture of detergents, in particular Antiformin - the market leading formulated chlorinated caustic detergent.
Nowadays Murphy & Son is still a private company, whose chairman is Dr. Andrew Carmichael. The company specialises in the supply of brewery processing aids (liquor treatments, enzymes, finings, stabilisers and preservatives) and in consulting analysis (chemical and microbiological). Murphy & Son Ltd gained accreditation to the quality assurance standards BS EN ISO 9002 in 1993.
In 1998, the Wheathampstead offices moved in Nottingham to consolidate the business on one site. Murphys acquired the brewing portfolio of Amyleau Ltd. in 1999, complementing their product range with an established market share in the supply of b-Glucanase and Silicon Antifoams. This was followed on the 31st of May 2002 with the acquisition of Savilles from LHS Holdings. This move, a result of relentless brewery closures over the previous few years, makes Murphy & Son Ltd. a market leading manufacturer of Isinglass Finings, and cemented their position as the 'One-Stop-Shop' for breweries of all sizes. On the 7th of August 2004 Murphy & Son Ltd. completed the acquisition of Sutton & Phillips Ltd. and the Stowmarket office was closed on September 21st 2004.
A period of rapid change and expansion culminated on the 1st of October 2004 with the acquisition of Samuel Handley Ltd. from Mr John Nicholson.
Samuel Handley Ltd specialise in the supply of Cork filled Dropping Bags, Foam filled Dray and Cellar Pads and Sack Trucks, primarily to the Brewing Cellar Service Industry. For Murphy & Son Ltd. it represents diversification of product range within their current customer base and area of technical expertise.
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