Whessoe
Whessoe is a historic British industrial engineering brand that evolved from iron founding and railway manufacture into energy, process-plant, instrumentation, and low-temperature storage equipment.
Last updated August 31, 2026
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Overview
Whessoe is an industrial engineering company associated with Darlington and Teesside in North East England. Its origins are traced to an iron foundry established in 1790, although the business that became closely identified with the Whessoe name developed through the Kitching family’s Hope Town Foundry in Darlington during the nineteenth century. The company’s early activities included ironwork, railway manufacture, locomotive construction and repair, and general engineering. The Whessoe name emerged in the 1860s after the Kitching business moved to Whessoe Foundry in Darlington and passed to Charles I’Anson, a family connection. During the second half of the nineteenth century, the enterprise broadened its capabilities into steel structures, cranes and equipment for gas works. It became a limited liability company in 1881, and the Whessoe Foundry Company Limited was formed in 1890. From the late nineteenth century onward, Whessoe increasingly focused on equipment for the gas and oil industries. Its work included gas holders and related plant, as well as engineering for large industrial facilities. In the twentieth century, the company expanded into petrochemical and nuclear-related engineering. It designed and constructed reactor vessels and other equipment associated with British nuclear power projects, including Calder Hall and advanced gas-cooled reactor projects at Hunterston B and Hinkley B. This history placed Whessoe among the specialized engineering contractors serving major energy and infrastructure programs. Whessoe became a public company in 1920 under the name Whessoe Foundry and Engineering Co Ltd. Shell acquired a 51 percent shareholding during this period, linking the company to one of the major international oil groups. The company’s portfolio subsequently included chemical, oil, nuclear and petrochemical plant, together with industrial instrumentation. Several parts of the business later followed different ownership paths. Endress+Hauser acquired the Whessoe Varec instrumentation business in 1997. The low-temperature gas-storage operation remained in Darlington and passed through ownership by Preussag Noell, Skanska and Al Rushaid before being acquired by Samsung C&T Corporation in 2013 as Whessoe Engineering Ltd. That business represents the continuing Whessoe presence in specialist low-temperature storage and related engineering. Whessoe’s brand identity is therefore rooted less in consumer products than in long-cycle industrial projects, engineered equipment and technical services. Its historical scope spans foundry work, railway engineering, gas infrastructure, oil and chemical plant, nuclear components, instrumentation and cryogenic or low-temperature storage. The exact current corporate structure, ownership arrangements and operating footprint beyond the Samsung C&T transaction are not established by the supplied reference material.
History
Whessoe’s industrial lineage reaches back to an iron foundry established in 1790. The more identifiable predecessor businesses developed in Darlington, where William Kitching and Alfred Kitching, members of a Quaker family, established the Hope Town Foundry in 1832. Both men were connected with the Stockton and Darlington Railway as board members and shareholders. Their works built locomotives and undertook manufacturing and repair work associated with railway engineering, including work connected with locomotive designer Timothy Hackworth. A locomotive built in 1845, Hackworth’s Derwent, is preserved in the National Railway Museum collection. In 1860, the Stockton and Darlington Railway acquired the Hope Town Foundry site for an extension of its Hopetown Carriage Works. The Kitching business consequently moved to another Darlington site known as Whessoe Foundry. The name Whessoe was taken from the locality and came to be applied to the business. After the Kitchings, ownership passed to their cousin Charles I’Anson, and the designation Whessoe Foundry was used for Charles I’Anson & Company during the 1860s. The enterprise was recorded as employing 45 people in 1861. Between approximately 1850 and 1890, the company expanded beyond general iron founding into steel structures, cranes and equipment for gas works. It became a limited liability company in 1881, followed by the formation of Whessoe Foundry Company Limited in 1890. This corporate development coincided with a strategic movement toward large-scale industrial plant and energy infrastructure. From 1890, Whessoe concentrated increasingly on equipment for the gas and oil sectors, including gas holders and other gas-works equipment. During the twentieth century, its engineering scope broadened into chemical, petrochemical and nuclear applications. Whessoe designed and constructed reactor vessels for major British nuclear facilities, including Calder Hall and advanced gas-cooled reactor projects at Hunterston B and Hinkley B. These projects reflected the company’s role as a specialist supplier of fabricated and engineered equipment for national energy infrastructure. The company entered the public market in 1920 as Whessoe Foundry and Engineering Co Ltd. Shell acquired 51 percent of its shares, bringing a major oil-company shareholder into the business. Over subsequent decades, Whessoe remained associated with the supply of plant and instrumentation for oil, chemical and nuclear facilities. The later history of the business involved several divisions and ownership changes. Endress+Hauser acquired the Whessoe Varec instrumentation operation in 1997. The low-temperature gas-storage business stayed in Darlington and was successively owned by Preussag Noell, Skanska and Al Rushaid. In 2013 Samsung C&T Corporation acquired this activity, which operated as Whessoe Engineering Ltd. Whessoe was also connected to a significant UK construction-industry controversy. Whessoe Oil and Gas was named as a subscriber to the Consulting Association, which was exposed in 2009 for maintaining an illegal blacklist. The UK Information Commissioner’s Office issued enforcement notices to 14 organizations, including Whessoe Oil and Gas. The episode is an important compliance-related event in the company’s public record, although the supplied material does not provide further detail on penalties, internal investigations or subsequent remediation. Today, the Whessoe name is primarily associated with specialist low-temperature storage manufacturing and engineering. Its historical record, however, covers a much wider industrial range: foundry work, railway equipment, gas infrastructure, heavy steelwork, oil and chemical plant, nuclear components, instrumentation and large engineered storage systems.
- 2013
Samsung C&T acquires Whessoe Engineering
[1]Samsung C&T Corporation acquired the low-temperature storage business, operating it as Whessoe Engineering Ltd.
- 2009
Consulting Association blacklist controversy
[1]Whessoe Oil and Gas was named as a subscriber to the Consulting Association, which was exposed for operating an illegal construction-industry blacklist.
- 1997
Instrumentation business sold to Endress+Hauser
[1]Endress+Hauser acquired the Whessoe Varec instrumentation business.
- 1920
London Stock Exchange listing
[1]The company was listed as Whessoe Foundry and Engineering Co Ltd, with Shell acquiring a 51 percent shareholding.
- 1890
Whessoe Foundry Company Limited formed
[1]A new corporate entity was formed as Whessoe Foundry Company Limited.
- 1881
Company becomes limited liability enterprise
[1]The business adopted limited-liability corporate status.
- 1860
Business moves to Whessoe Foundry
[1]After the Stockton and Darlington Railway acquired the Hope Town Foundry site, the Kitching business relocated to Whessoe Foundry in Darlington.
- 1860
Whessoe name enters company identity
[1]The Whessoe locality name began to be used for the foundry and the business associated with Charles I’Anson.
- 1845
Derwent locomotive built
[1]A Hackworth-designed Derwent locomotive was built in connection with the company’s railway-engineering activities; it is preserved in the National Railway Museum collection.
- 1832
Hope Town Foundry established in Darlington
[1]William and Alfred Kitching established the Hope Town Foundry, an important predecessor to the later Whessoe business.
Products and positioning
A long-established British industrial engineering specialist positioned around heavy fabrication, energy infrastructure, process equipment and technically demanding storage systems rather than consumer-facing products.
Industrial storage systems
Low-temperature storage equipment
Whessoe’s continuing business is associated with the manufacture and engineering of low-temperature storage equipment. The activity developed from the company’s long-standing involvement in energy and process infrastructure and remained based in the Darlington area through several ownership changes. The supplied reference does not specify individual tank models, capacities or current product variants.
Gas infrastructure
Gas holders and gas-works equipment
From the late nineteenth century, Whessoe manufactured equipment for the gas industry, including gas holders and related gas-works plant. These products marked the company’s transition from an iron and railway foundry into a supplier of specialized infrastructure for public-utility and industrial energy systems.
Nuclear engineering
Nuclear reactor vessels and plant
Whessoe designed and constructed reactor vessels and related engineered equipment for British nuclear power projects. Referenced installations include Calder Hall and advanced gas-cooled reactor projects at Hunterston B and Hinkley B. The available material does not identify individual contract values or technical specifications.
Process engineering
Chemical, oil and petrochemical plant
Whessoe supplied engineered plant and equipment for chemical, oil and petrochemical applications. Its capabilities included heavy fabrication and project engineering for industrial facilities, extending the company’s earlier work in gas infrastructure into more complex process industries.
Process instrumentation
Industrial instrumentation
The Whessoe Varec operation represented the company’s instrumentation business, serving industrial measurement and control requirements. Endress+Hauser acquired this business in 1997, so it is treated as a historical Whessoe product line rather than a confirmed current offering.
Heavy engineering
Steel structures and cranes
During the nineteenth century, the company expanded into steel structures, cranes and other heavy fabricated products. These capabilities supported its later development as an engineering contractor for gas, oil and industrial infrastructure.
Controversies
2009
Consulting Association construction blacklist
Whessoe Oil and Gas was identified as a subscriber to the Consulting Association, an organization exposed for operating an illegal blacklist in the UK construction industry. The UK Information Commissioner’s Office issued enforcement notices to 14 organizations, including Whessoe Oil and Gas.
Brand decisions
2013
Acquisition of Whessoe Engineering by Samsung C&TM&ABackground
The Darlington-based low-temperature gas-storage business had previously passed through ownership by Preussag Noell, Skanska and Al Rushaid.
Action taken
Samsung C&T Corporation acquired the business, which operated as Whessoe Engineering Ltd.
Aftermath
The Whessoe name continued in specialist low-temperature storage and related engineering. The supplied material does not establish the current ownership structure beyond this transaction.
1997
Divestment of Whessoe VarecM&ABackground
Whessoe operated businesses spanning engineering, storage and industrial instrumentation. The instrumentation division was separated from the rest of the company through a sale to Endress+Hauser.
Action taken
Endress+Hauser acquired the Whessoe Varec instrumentation business.
Aftermath
The instrumentation activity became part of Endress+Hauser, while Whessoe continued to be associated with low-temperature storage and other engineering activities.
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