Whatman plc: Difference between revisions

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{{Update|ownership|date=May 2020}}

{{Infobox Company

| company_name = Whatman plc

{{Infobox Companycompany

| slogan = Leadership in separations technology for the life sciences

| name = Whatman plc<br>(part of Cytiva)

| company_type = [[Subsidiary]] (of [[GE Healthcare]])

| type = [[Product brand]]

| foundation = 1740 in [[Maidstone]], [[Kent]] <ref>[http://www.whatman.com/TheEarlyYears.aspx The Early Years]; Whatman website</ref>

| foundation = {{Start date and age|1740}} in [[Maidstone]], [[Kent]], [[United Kingdom]]<ref name=EarlyYears>{{cite web|url=http://www.whatman.com/TheEarlyYears.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080328090040/http://www.whatman.com:80/TheEarlyYears.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-date=2008-03-28|title=The Early Years|publisher=Whatman}}</ref>

| founder = [[James Whatman (papermaker)|James Whatman]]

| ___location = [[Maidstone]], [[Kent]],<ref>[http://www.whatman.com/WorldwideOffices.aspx Worldwide offices]; Whatman website</ref> [[United Kingdom|UK]]

| ___location =

| key_people = Kieran Murphy, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director<br>

| location_city = [[Little Chalfont]], [[Buckinghamshire]]

Chris Rickard, Finance Director<br>

| location_country = [[United Kingdom]]

Stephan Fleck, Vice President of Technical Operations<br>

| homepage = {{URL|cytivalifesciences.com/whatman}}

| revenue = {{profit}} [[Pound sign|£]]115.5 million (2007)<ref>[http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=875744 Whatman plc Reports Group Earnings Results for the Year Ended December 31, 2007]; [[BusinessWeek]]</ref>

| homepage = http://www.whatman.com

}}

'''Whatman plc''' is a Cytiva brand specialising in laboratory filtration products and separation technologies.

'''Whatman plc''' was a British laboratory equipment maker and is now part of [[GE Healthcare]]. On 4 February 2008, GE Healthcare, a unit of General Electric Company, announced that it has completed the acquisition of Whatman plc, a global supplier of filtration products and technologies at 270p per share in cash for each Whatman share, valuing Whatman at approximately £363 million (approximately $713 million.)

Whatman products cover a range of laboratory applications that require filtration, sample collection (cards and kits), blotting, lateral flow components and flow-through assays and other general laboratory accessories.

==External links==

* [http://www.gehealthcare.com/ GE Healthcare].

Formerly Whatman plc, the company was originally acquired in 2008 by GE Healthcare, which became Cytiva in April 2020.

* [http://www.gelifesciences.com/ GE Lifesciences].

==History==

===Founder's innovation and impact===

[[File:Paul Sandby - A View of Vinters at Boxley, Kent, with Mr. Whatman's Turkey Paper Mills - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|''Mr. Whatman's Turkey Paper Mills'' by [[Paul Sandby]] (1794)]]

The papermaker [[James Whatman (papermaker)|James Whatman]] the Elder (1702–1759) founded the Whatman papermaking enterprise in 1740 in [[Maidstone]], [[Kent]], England. He made revolutionary advances to the craft in England and is credited<ref name=bywho/> as the inventor of [[wove paper]] (or Vélin), an innovation used for high-quality art and printing. His son, James Whatman the Younger (1741–1798), further developed the company's techniques.<ref name="Roberts">{{cite book |last1=Roberts |first1=Matt T. |last2=Etherington |first2=Don |title=Bookbinding and the conservation of books: A dictionary of descriptive terminology |url=https://archive.org/details/bookbindingconse0000robe |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |isbn=978-0-8444-0366-3 |chapter=Whatman, James (1741–1798) |date=2011-11-19 |access-date=2016-09-02 |url-access=registration}}</ref> At a time when the craft was based in smaller [[paper mill]]s, Whatman innovations led to the large-scale and widespread industrialisation of paper manufacturing.

[[John Baskerville]] (1707–1775), who needed paper that would take a light impression of the printing plate, approached Whatman; the resultant paper was used for the edition of [[Virgil]]'s poetry, embellished with Baskerville's typography and designs.<ref name="Roberts"/> The earliest examples of wove paper, bearing his [[watermark]], appeared after 1740.<ref name="NGA">{{cite web |url=http://nga.gov.au/Conservation/Watermarks/listing.cfm |title=Watermark and countermark library |year=2010 |work=Conservation |publisher=[[National Gallery of Australia]] |access-date=2010-11-29 |archive-date=2010-11-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101129061440/http://nga.gov.au/Conservation/Watermarks/listing.cfm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The Whatman [[business]] is credited with the invention of the wove wire mesh used to mould and align pulp fibres.<ref name=bywho>{{Cite ODNB |title=Whatman, James (1702–1759), paper maker |url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-40776 |access-date=2020-08-30 |year=2004 |language=en |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/40776 |last1=Baker |first1=Anne Pimlott}}</ref> This is the principal method used in the mass production of most modern paper. The Whatmans held a part interest in the establishment at Turkey Mill, near Maidstone, after 1740;<ref name=EarlyYears/> this was wholly acquired through the elder Whatman's marriage to Ann Harris.<ref name=bywho/>

"Handmade" paper bearing the Whatman's mark continued in production for special editions and art books<ref name="Roberts" /> until 2002.<ref name=Chalmers>{{cite journal |first=Mark |last=Chalmers |title=Whatman – Springfield Paper Mill, Maidstone |journal=Archive |issue=91 |date=September 2016 |pages=52–65 |publisher=Lightmoor Press |___location=Witney}}</ref>

===Acquisition===

On 4 February 2008 [[GE Healthcare]], a unit of [[General Electric]], acquired Whatman [[Public limited company|plc]] at 270p per share in cash for each Whatman share, valuing Whatman at approximately £363 million (approximately $713 million.) Last production at Maidstone (Springfield Mill) occurred on 17 June 2014.<ref name=Chalmers/>

==Key products and technologies==

[[File:Whatman 3-Piece Filter Funnel 4-7 cm .jpg|thumb|Whatman 3-piece [[filter funnel]]]]

The Whatman product range covers

* Laboratory filtration products: filter papers, membrane filters, syringe filters, syringeless filters, microbiology, microplates, and capsule filters

* Sample collection cards and kits: FTA, FTA Elute, and 903 ranges

* Blotting: blotting membranes, blotting papers, and equipment

* Components for lateral flow and flow-through assays: membranes for immunoassays, conjugate release, blood separators, absorbents, and sample pads

* General laboratory accessories: extraction thimbles, weighing papers, test and chromatography papers, lens-cleaning tissue, and Benchkote papers

==References==

{{reflist|2Reflist}}

{{Paper}}

{{Authority control}}

{{General Electric}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whatman Plc}}

[[Category:General Electric Healthcare subsidiaries]]

[[Category:Paper products]]

[[Category:Filters]]

[[Category:1740 establishments in England]]