Budenberg Gauge Company
The Budenberg Gauge Company was founded in 1850 by Bernhard Schäffer and Christian Friedrich Budenberg and is now based in Irlam, Salford. The company is renowned for the manufacture of high quality pressure gauges, thermometers, valves and manifolds. Budenberg also produce monoflanges and close coupled systems, chemical seals, hygienic seals, and transmitters.
Early history
In 1849, B. Schäffer patented the design of a diaphragm pressure gauge. The following year he formed a business partnership with his brother-in-law C.F. Budenberg and began manufacturing pressure gauges in the altstadt of the eastern German Magdeburg. In 1858 they moved to purpose built premises on Schoenestrasse in the suburb of Buckau. The company they formed was known as The Schäffer & Budenberg Manufacturing Company (S&B) "a special factory for the production of fine mechanical instruments". Export success on the back of the every increasing steam industry led to the formation of manufacturing and sales subsidiaries all over the world. In c1875 the company produced its first Bourdon type pressure gauges thanks to the expiry of patents. They opened an office & factory in Brooklyn NY in 1876.
The Manchester connection
The company's history in Manchester began in 1857 when Arnold Budenberg, the brother of C.F. Budenberg, established a sales office in the city. Around c1875 the assembly of pressure gauges in Manchester began. Arnold's son Fred Budenberg took over the running of the Manchester operation in 1888. The company continued to expand and relocated to a larger factory in Whitworth Street in 1896.
First World War
In 1914, the company moved from Whitworth Street to a new factory at Woodfield Road, Broadheath, Altrincham. Following the outbreak of war with Germany, S&B was one of many German owned companies in the United Kingdom to be expropriated by the British Crown. Following the seizure of the company's Manchester subsidiary, Fred Budenberg continued to run the business, and in 1918 he bought the company back from the British Crown, with the proviso by the Crown that all Board Directors were English born, and so the Budenberg Gauge Company was formed. The American branch was taken over by the Alien Property Custodian in 1917 and sold off in May 1919, with no continuing family connection. The Italian branch was liquidated by the Italian Government in 1915. The company business connections in St. Petersburg, Riga, Moscow & Kiev were severed with the war and the Russian Revolution. The French, Belgian and Dutch offices were all nationalised by their respective Governments.
Later history
Budenberg remained a family-owned company until 1991 when it was sold to Burnfield plc.
In 2002 the company vacated its historic Broadheath factory and moved to Irlam, where it continues to manufacture pressure gauges and accessories.
In 1996 DH-Budenberg was established from the merger of Desgranges & Huot from France (known widely as "DH") and the calibration division of Budenberg Gauge Co. Budenberg had been manufacturing pressure calibration equipment - deadweight testers and calibrators - since the 1920s. The newly formed company DH-Budenberg Group has since expanded the calibration equipment produced, to a wide range of primary standard & premium industrial pressure calibration equipment, which now includes: automated primary pressure standards, manual primary standards, differential primary standards, automatic pressure controllers, hydraulic, pneumatic, and portable deadweight testers, and a range of portable calibrators. Along with manufacturing bases in Manchester UK, Paris France & Rodgau Germany, recent DH-Budenberg expansion has included opening new offices in San Marcos - Texas, Dubai - UAE, Chennai - India, Singapore, & Perth - Australia.