Company History - The company was started in 1859 – the same year as some other world greats!

In 1859, construction began on the Suez Canal, the first combustion engine was built in Belgium, petroleum was discovered in Titusville, Pennsylvania and Charles Darwin published ‘The Origin of Species’.

Adshead, which was originally named William Peter Adshead & Co. Ltd began trading from small premises in the center of Belper. The daily journal from that year records the sale of £2.00 of polish to a merchant in Derby. Sales developed well for about 50 years and then in 1918 the goodwill and assets were purchased by Charles Coates Ratcliffe and Lewis Ratcliffe, who were already trading as  C & L Ratcliffe Paint Manufacturers; however, it was not until 1944 that name Adshead Ratcliffe & Co Ltd came into being.