A Portslade History Round-up: Audio Feature: The Ronuk Story – Brilliance, Boots, and British Heritage

Audio Feature: The Ronuk Story – Brilliance, Boots, and British Heritage

Duration: [13 minutes] Featuring: An immersive deep-dive into the rise and fall of Portslade’s industrial giant.

About this episode: If you prefer to listen on the go, join our AI-guided conversation as we explore the fascinating world of Ronuk Limited. We travel from the "putty-coloured" beginnings in a Brighton back-garden to the global prestige of the Royal household and the eventual birth of the legendary Ronseal brand.

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(Do have a listen, it's rather good)
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In this episode, we discuss:

The "Guv’nor" & Welfare Capitalism: How Ronuk looked after its own long before it was the "done thing."
A Sensory Journey: Why the "Ronuk smell" was the true geographic centre of Portslade for over sixty years.
From Portslade to Port Said: The amusing tale of the world’s most travelled floor polish.
The Living Legacy: How a 1920s staff social club became our modern-day Portslade Town Hall.

“It’s a story of more than just floor wax; it’s the story of the people who polished the floors of history.”

Ronuk of Portslade: A Comprehensive History

Foreword and Executive Summary: The Ronuk Legacy

The history of Ronuk Limited, established in Portslade, East Sussex, stands as a prominent example of successful British industrial enterprise during the early 20th century. Operating from 1902 until its corporate acquisition in 1960, the company specialised in floor polishes and surface treatments, rapidly expanding from a local wax composition into a brand synonymous with domestic and institutional brilliance.

The company’s trajectory spanned the transition from regional manufacture to integration within a national industrial conglomerate. The firm began with a simple formula and culminated in the launch of one of the UK’s most enduring DIY brands, Ronseal.

Establishing the Foundation (1896–1902)

The Brightonian Genesis and the Fowler Family

Ronuk’s origins trace back to Brighton in the late 1800s. The foundational product was initially known as 'Fowler's Wax Composition'. While accounts differ on the inventor, a popular legend among 1920s Ronuk workers suggested that it was the mother of founder T. Horace Fowler who invented the polish at her residence near Hove. The original wax was described as unscented and possessing a "nasty, putty colour."

T. Horace Fowler and the Professionalisation of the Brand

The company’s development was driven by Thomas Horace Fowler (1869–1944), affectionately known as 'the Guv’nor'. Fowler moved swiftly to professionalise the product’s identity, officially registering the trademark 'Ronuk' on 23 January 1896. The name was an Anglicised version of a word meaning ‘brilliance,’ suggested by a former officer in the Indian Army.

The Strategic Relocation to Portslade (1902)

In 1902, the factory relocated to a newly established facility in Portslade, situated north of the railway line and south of Victoria Road. At the time, the surroundings were "relatively rural"—so much so that the company lodged an official complaint in 1907 regarding pigs from nearby fields invading the factory site.

The Portslade Powerhouse: Industrial Operations

Product Range and Market Segmentation

Ronuk successfully evolved its core product into a sophisticated formula described as a "warm red polish with a distinctive smell." The company mastered market segmentation through a diverse range of offerings:

Industrial Scale: Large tins for hospitals and institutions. Ronuk was recognised with a gold medal at the 17th International Congress of Medicine (1913) for its hospital-grade quality.
Domestic Variety: Standard household tins, small tins, and tiny sample tins the size of a two-penny piece.
Speciality Polishes: In the 1920s, they launched Dirsof, a non-scratch cream polish sold in blue jars.
Aesthetic Packaging: Some polishes were sold in beautiful blue glazed stoneware vases intended for consumer re-use.
Royal Endorsement: In 1924, Ronuk manufactured a miniature gold tin of floor polish for Queen Mary's Dolls' House, permanently linking the brand with the Royal household.

The "Scent-Map" of Portslade

While this history meticulously details the corporate milestones and logistical sophistication of Ronuk, for many locals, the most enduring legacy wasn't the royal endorsements or the railway sidings, but the unmistakable smell.

Long before the Victoria Road site was repurposed, it was the source of a thick, medicinal, and waxy odour that acted as a geographic marker for the town. You didn’t need a map to know you were approaching the industrial heart; you simply followed your nose. In an era of coal smoke, that 'Ronuk smell' stood for domestic pride and cleanliness—a sensory landmark that has since vanished into Portslade’s scent-neutral modern identity.

Crucial Diversification into DIY

The company’s most strategically important move was its foresight in diversifying into the burgeoning Do-It-Yourself market:

1927: Launch of Colron Wood Dyes.
1956: Introduction of Ronseal wood varnish.

This innovation ensured the brand's long-term survival, as Ronseal eventually became a dominant presence in the UK DIY sector.

Logistics and Global Reach

Ronuk's distribution network utilised the factory’s strategic location adjacent to the railway line.

Rail Infrastructure: Special railway sidings were constructed (1919–1920), shared with the nearby Metal Box Factory. This created a localised industrial ecosystem where packaging and polish manufacturing were logistically intertwined.
International Presence: The brand’s reach was global. Evidence includes a 1915 press advertisement for a Ronuk office in Toronto, Canada, and a famous instance of an order mistakenly routed to Port Said, Egypt, before finding its way back to Portslade.

Pioneering Corporate Paternalism

Ronuk Limited stands out for its commitment to "welfare capitalism," providing benefits to improve employee loyalty and morale.

The Ronuk Hall and Welfare Institute (1928)

The crowning symbol of this commitment was the Ronuk Hall, opened in 1928 to serve as a social hub for the workforce. Designed in the Neo-Georgian style, it hosted dances, socials, and sports events.

In 1959, the Portslade-by-Sea Urban District Council purchased the building, and it was officially opened as Portslade Town Hall on 2 September 1959. It remains the only part of the original factory site still standing today.

The End of Independence (1960–Present)

The independent life of Ronuk Limited ended in 1960 when it was acquired by Newton Chambers & Co. of Sheffield. Manufacturing operations were formally moved to Sheffield in 1964, ending the company's sixty-year presence in Portslade.

Corporate Ownership Timeline

Year	Owning Entity	Key Milestone
1960	Newton Chambers & Co.	Acquired Ronuk Ltd; closure of Portslade site initiated.
1964	Newton Chambers	Manufacturing formally moved to Sheffield.
1973	Sterling Winthrop Group	Acquired division; brands renamed Sterling Roncraft.
1989	Eastman Kodak	Acquired Sterling Winthrop.
c.1990s	Thompson Minwax	DIY business sold; Ronseal brand name restored.
1997	Sherwin-Williams	Current owner of the legacy brands.

Assessment of Research Gaps

While the narrative of Ronuk's rise and fall is well-documented, specific operational data from the mid-20th century—such as precise employee numbers and the financial valuation of the 1960 sale—remain scarce. Further archival research at The National Archives or within Portslade Council minutes may yet uncover these commercial details.