50th Anniversary Celebrates 5 Decades of Expertise in Process Instrumentation

In spite of the recent doom and gloom of the recession, family owned Instrumentation company, JWF Process Solutions (formerly JW Fairbairn) is celebrating 50 years of trading in 2012.

To symbolise their 50 years of success and experience, JWF have rebranded themselves as JWF The Instrumentalists − a name
which reflects their expertise in process instrumentation and customer service.

JWF’s Story

In 1959, after leaving Weir Pumps, Jimmy Fairbairn formed JW Fairbairn, an unlimited company in a single office in Wellington Street, Glasgow supported by his wife Isabelle. Initially working as a Sales Agent selling valves on behalf of Marshall Boilers and Fischer & Porter, Jimmy soon added Service Engineering to the firm’s capabilities. With the added responsibility of servicing, Jimmy brought John Robertson on staff and in 1962 JW Fairbairn was incorporated.

JW Fairbairn Ltd. (Fairbairn’s) operated from Wellington Street in Glasgow for 10 years and with the company growing Jimmy bought and
relocated to factory premises in Paisley where he set up Fairmac Engineering Ltd, a light engineering manufacturing company. In 1969
he added WIKA and CHROMALOX to the Fischer & Porter sales agency.

Sadly,in 1976, Jimmy Fairbairn passed away at a young age leaving Fairbairn’s in the hands of John Robertson who took on the role of Managing Director, with Isabelle continuing to work as an active part of the company until losing her battle with a long term illness in 1993.

In 1977,John made an executive decision to stop the manufacturing side to Fairbairn’s and channelled his energies on growing the
business as a Sales Agency.

1980 saw Kenneth Fairbairn (son of Jimmy and Isabelle) join Fairbairn’s, having served a 4 year engineering apprenticeship. John closed the manufacturing facility in Paisley in 1981 and relocated to the current office in an industrial site in Darnley,Glasgow.

Fairbairn’s weathered the recession of the early 80’s and John and Kenneth continued to grow the company adding to the product portfolio with companies such as Hartmann & Braun and Bush Beach Engineering.

In 2000 John retired and Kenneth was appointed Managing Director, where he expanded the company with a focus based on product knowledge and support within the instrumentation sector. Fairbairn’s was renamed JWF Process Solutions (JWF) to better reflect the company’s capabilities.

In late 2000 Martin Kerlin joined JWF having previously graduated in Engineering from Strathclyde University and succeeded to Sales Director in 2006. With the focus on instrumentation gathering momentum, the company expanded into the North of England with the creation of JWF Instrumentation, a division of JWF.

Today the JWF team are 20 strong with an operational office in Teesside and the HQ still existing in Glasgow and continue to focus on servicing the instrumentation market for flow, pressure, temperature, level and control products.

Following on from 50 years’ experience in Flow with Fischer & Porter ABB, JWF have now been appointed the UK representative for FLEXIM for all Oil & Gas Upstream applications. FLEXIM is a technological leader in the field of clamp-on ultrasonic flow measurement for liquids, gases, extreme temperatures, pressures or highly variable and is a strategic addition to the range of flow measurement devices
offered by JWF.

For more information;
Call: 0845 274 7750
Email: info@jwfltd.com
Web: www.jwfltd.com