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Plyglass Ltd, a glass processing and distribution company, was established in April 1970. They opened their extensive factory and office premises at Somercotes in the early 1970’s on one of the best positioned sites on the Cotes Park Industrial Estate, located on the corner of Nottingham Road and Cotes Park Lane.

The company was at the forefront of the double glazing business. The Design Journal, published in 1972, gives an insight into the product manufactured by Plyglass at the time: “Plyglass Thermopane Insulating Glass, already sold in America and Europe, is now available in Britain and is a sealed unit claimed to be far in advance of other types of window insulation and is the first to carry a 20 year guarantee. The unit consists of two or more sheets of glass, factory sealed to enclose dehydrated air, which are then fitted to a window frame and look almost indistinguishable from a single pane window. The units have a small, single component seal, provide a high degree of vapour exclusion; can be made using virtually any type of glass and in many different shapes, with standard air spaces of 6.9 and 12mm. They are suitable for converting windows in existing houses as well as for new installations. Made by Plyglass Ltd. Cotes Park, Somercotes, Derbyshire.”

In 1996, Pilkington Ltd acquired the company which then became known as Pilkington Plyglass.

PHOTO: The Pilkington Plyglass factory [2013]

The Pilkington Group Ltd. of St. Helens, was formed in 1826 as the Crown Glass Company, and was founded by John William Bell with capital from the Bromilow, Greenall, and Pilkington families. William Pilkington was an original shareholder and was later joined in the company by his elder brother Richard.

It became a private company in 1894 and remained so until 1970 when its shares were listed on the London Stock Exchange. The company was removed from the London Stock Exchange in June 2006 after becoming a subsidiary of the NSG Group, a Japanese company established in 1918.

In 2018 the company announced that it was withdrawing from the commercial insulated glass sector in which the Somercotes factory was involved. The Derby Telegraph, published on 5 September 2018, printed an article on the matter: “Around 100 workers at a Derbyshire glass manufacturer are facing an uncertain future due to “difficult trading conditions” in part of the business. The jobs at Pilkington Plyglass, which has a large factory at Cotes Park, Somercotes, near Alfreton are at risk after the firm announced it had decided to cease trading in the commercial insulated glass unit sector. According to the firm, which is owned by the Japanese NSG Group, this part of the business had been making a loss, with no prospect of an upturn in market conditions. Pilkington said it has now entered into a consultation with the affected employees at Somercotes and has said it will attempt to find jobs for them elsewhere within the NSG Group… The existing, profitable laminating and cut size clear fire protection arms of the Plyglass business are unaffected and will continue to operate from the Alfreton site…”

The factory is still producing product, although much of the premises are now vacant [2019].