SPIE Hotwork’s History
Spie Hotwork's History
In 1962, Trevor Ward founded the original Hotwork company in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, UK. Mr. Ward had invented a special gas burner, and he formed the company to capitalize on his invention. Initially the burner design was patented, and the company grew rapidly due to the utility of its invention for glass furnace heatups.
In order to support the growth of his company, Mr. Ward formed subsidiaries and granted licenses under his patents. A network of subsidiaries and independent companies began to operate around the world utilizing the original intellectual property.
In 1965, Hotwork Incorporated was formed as a licensee of Mr. Ward’s company for North and South America. The US company has prospered and continued to develop and expand the original technology transferred from Mr. Ward through the stewardship of different owners along the way.
Over time, Mr. Ward’s company grew rapidly, expanded product lines, and then fell onto hard times. In the 1990’s, it became insolvent, divested product lines, and a remnant English entity (Hotwork Europe LTD) was eventually purchased and shut down by Hotwork. Hotwork also acquired Hotwork Australia. Over the decades, Hotwork in the USA continued to improve the technology, expand the service offerings to include refractory dry outs, and grow geographically. In 2005, Hotwork was separated from a larger corporate owner and became a private company known as Hotwork – USA LLC. In 2024, Hotwork – USA was acquired by SPIE and continues to offer the same high-quality services with the same innovative approach that had been so successful over the 60 years of operation.
Today, there are still several companies operating around the world utilizing Hotwork in their name in some form. Most of them have their roots in an association with Mr. Ward’s original company. Some of them have absolutely no association with SPIE Hotwork.
Today you can recognize SPIE Hotwork by the trademark (Hotwork®), the web address www.hotwork.com , and by the Lexington, KY USA headquarters.
1965 – Hotwork Incorporated opens in Hillside, NJ.
1975 – Hotwork Inc. moves to current headquarters in Lexington, KY.
1990 – Hotwork Inc. becomes Hotwork Division of Adience, Inc.
1992 – Adience divests the Hotwork Division, and it becomes privately held Hotwork Corporation.
1998 – Hotwork Corporation becomes Hotwork Division of Fosbel, Inc.
2005 – Fosbel divests Hotwork Division and it becomes privately held Hotwork – USA LLC.
2022 – Robur Group acquires Hotwork – USA LLC.
2024- SPIE acquires Robur Group and Hotwork – USA LLC.
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