Ferodo
Ferodo is a British brake company based in Chapel-en-le-Frith in High Peak, Derbyshire.
History
Ferodo was founded in 1897 by Herbert Frood, with manufacturing starting in Gorton in 1901 and moving to Chapel-en-le-Frith in 1902. Ferodo was the first company to use asbestos for brake linings and developed the first modern brake friction materials.Ferodo UK became part of Turner & Newall in 1926. It had a factory at Chapel-en-le-Frith and in 1964 opened another at Caernarfon. In 1961, it merged its Australian operations with the brake lining division of James Hardie. In 1980, Turner & Newall sold its 40% shareholding in Ferodo-Hardie to James Hardie.
In 1998 Turner & Newall was acquired by the huge automotive group Federal-Mogul. In 2012, £13 million was invested in new floors, insulation, low energy heating and new process machines.
Visits
On 21 November 1958, Philip, Duke of Edinburgh opened the £750,000 research centre, later visiting Chesterfield College of Technology.Asbestos trust
Federal-Mogul got into financial difficulties and filed for Chapter 11 protection as a result of asbestosis claims. In the United Kingdom the business went into administration in October 2001, leaving a pension fund deficit estimated at £400 million.The T&N Subfund of the Federal-Mogul Asbestos Trust was organized to pay all valid Asbestos Trust claims for which the T&N Entities have legal responsibility. The Trust was created December 27, 2007 as a result of the confirmation of The Federal-Mogul Chapter 11 Joint Plan of Reorganization.
For claimants whose principal exposure to asbestos was in the United Kingdom or one of several other non-US countries, a UK Asbestos Trust was established to provide for the payment of asbestos claims in addition to the US-focused Asbestos Trust described above. This includes posthumous payments to families of Ferodo factory workers.