Clark & Co Ltd , thread manufacturers Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, were the main rivals of J & P Coats Ltd , thread manufacturers, Paisley. The company was formed when J & J Clark & Co, thread manufacturers, Paisley, and Kerr & Clark, thread manufacturers, Paisley, amalgamated in 1865 as Clark & Co. Two years later, the firm purchased J & R Clark, thread manufacturers, Paisley, for å£24,000. In the 1870s, the Clark mills were renamed Anchor Mills. In 1880 , Clark & Co was incorporated as Clark & Co Ltd, with a capital of å£1,000,000, and with John, James, Stewart, and William Clark as directors. James was also vice-president of The Clark Thread Co , thread manufacturers, Newark, New Jersey, USA, which his brother William managed. New stock, to the value of å£50,000, was issued in 1885 to enable Clark & Co Ltd to takeover the firm John Clark Jnr, thread manufacturers, Mile End, Glasgow, Scotland. This was an important acquisition as the company acquired mills in Glasgow and Newark, New Jersey (near to those of Clark Thread Co) and substantial markets overseas, particularly in Russia, an area into which the managing director, John Clark, was trying to expand.
John Clark (1827-1894) was the brother of George, founder of the Clark Thread Co, and was the driving force in the firm's management in the mid- and late nineteenth century. Two years after his death, in 1896 , Clark & Co Ltd was amalgamated with J & P Coats Ltd. Jonas Brook & Bros, thread manufacturers, Meltham Mills, Huddersfield, Kirklees, England, and James Chadwick & Bros, cotton manufacturers, Bolton, England, followed in the same year, making the new amalgamated firm the biggest in the world.
Each company maintained its identity with the preservation of the names and trade marks which were used for the particular market in which they were associated. In March 1931 , an agreement was signed between Clark & Co Ltd and United Thread Mills Ltd , thread manufacturers, Glasgow, whereby United Thread Mills Ltd bought all property within the UK, tools, machinery and unmanufactured goods - but not trade marks, trade names or patents, investments or goodwill. In December 1951 , Clark & Co Ltd agreed to sell to J & P Coats Ltd, as a going concern, the company's business in the UK and all other parts of the world, except Brazil, Cuba and Mexico. In April 1954, the trade marks in Brazil, Cuba and Mexico were transferred to J & P Coats Ltd. In 2002, Clark & Co Ltd was still an active company based in Glasgow.
From the guide to the Records of Clark & Co Ltd, thread manufacturers, Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, 1865-1978, (Glasgow University Archive Services)
