The Weir Group: The History of a Scottish Engineering Legend, 1872-2008 Weir, William

In 1871, brothers George and James Weir founded the engineering firm of G & J Weir, one of a booming range of industry on the west coast of Scotland. At their Cathcart works in Glasgow, the Weirs produced their own groundbreaking inventions, all crucial to the development of steam ships at that time. Today, 130 turbulent years later, the Weir Group is almost the last of those once-flourishing companies still to retain its independence and its Scottish base. Over the intervening century, the company manufactured pumps and valves for ships’ engines around the world, oil pipelines, and armaments during both world wars. This insightful resource details how the group, rooted in the inventiveness and determination of the Victorian manufacturing age, adapted to the changing world of the 20th century, determined always to diversify, win overseas contracts, build partnerships, and above all, survive.

William Weir (Viscount Weir) was chairman and chief executive of the Weir Group from 1973 to 1980 and chairman again from 1983 to 1999. In a distinguished career, he has held many other directorships and was for many years on the board of the Bank of England.