The History of Tracerco

Founded late 50s
As with most companies that last, Tracerco’s beginnings were small. In 1958, executives at Imperial Chemical Industries Ltd. Billingham Division, decided to investigate gamma radiation as a catalyst for chemical reactions. A handful of scientists were involved from the Physical Chemistry section in Research Works. The catalyst research proved fruitless but it was realised there were possibilities in using sealed sources and tracers for monitoring chemical manufacturing processes.

Billingham circa 1965 - We were engineers - and young. One of the first Plant Investigation teams. Andy Gullon (on bike) is still with us. The first van is in the background.

1960s
By the early sixties the newly named Physics and Radioisotope Services (PRS) group were sending teams around the Billingham site performing leak tests, dilution flows and column scans. Transport was often by bike, with the tools of the trade in a basket on the handle bars.

Other ICI sites called for their services which became country wide. A flat nosed Comer van was provided with sliding doors and an engine under the seat. Noisy, but a boon in winter.

Prototype fixed instruments were being installed. It became obvious that there was a future in nucleonic instrumentation and by the mid sixties PRS group had its own development section, designing equipment for the plant investigation teams and for fixed installations. It was decided to prefix the equipment type number with PRI, still current practice and the company’s only recognisable link to its origins.

1970s
Demand for instruments and services rapidly went beyond ICI and the earliest instruments produced were being sold to external companies. A section was set up to install and commission instruments. This became GammaTrol Instrumentation. The range included Radiation Monitors, Level and Density Gauges. The group became established in the UK’s developing offshore industry which valued the services of its process applications and instrument products.

By the mid seventies large orders were being received from around the world . Physics and Radioisotopes was an international operation.

1980s
This was a period of geographical growth. Bases were established in Aberdeen, the USA, Canada and South East Asia to feed the increasing demand on the group’s services and instruments. Services to the offshore industry grew rapidly. Sub-sea gauges were used in platform grouting, and also for the first time in separator and slug-catcher control. In 1986, to general relief, the laborious group title of Physics and Radioisotopes Services became Tracerco Europe.

1990s to present
In 1990 Tracerco Europe moved its headquarters off the ICI Billingham site to its present location on Belasis Hall Technology Park. Economic slowdown meant that the early 90s were a period of entrenchment for the group but by the mid 90s the outlook improved and growth returned.

Billingham 2004 with Andy Gullon. Andy has four decades of practice in process diagnostics. A measure of the depth of experience in the business.

Flooded member inspection and pig tracking were introduced for the offshore industry and new processor-based gauge products were marketed. The packages of services that make up Tracerco’s offer for reservoir, FCCU and separator studies became increasingly popular.

ICI’s interests in catalysts were consolidated into a new ICI business – Synetix – and Tracerco Europe became the Synetix service arm.

During this period, new markets were conceived and developed. For the first time ever oil platforms were given the opportunity to see inside their critically important separator vessels with The TRACERCO Profiler™ – a world beating innovation, which has received the Queens Award for Enterprise: Innovation.

More recently still, the Business has developed a new range of TRACERCO™ Taggants responding to growing demand from national governments for authentication markers that protect against the criminal dilution of gasoline by cheap solvents. Our system of high integrity tagging has been selected by the Brazilian Government to tag their country’s entire solvent production. Further interest is coming from oil companies wishing to enhance their petrol’s brand image.

In 2002 Synetix Services (Tracerco) was the fastest growing business in Synetix and widely admired across our industry as amongst the leaders in our sector.

UK approval Approval Certificate No: LRQ 0927715

In October 2002 the business in the UK was approved by Lloyds Register Quality Assurance (LRQA) to the new quality management standard ISO9001:2000.

We have called the system, introduced to meet this standard, our Business System. A computerised embodiment of our approach to business. It is part of our working day. It is no “Plaque on the wall”.

In November 2002, the Synetix business was acquired by Johnson Matthey Plc., a dynamic company with a solid history stretching back to the 19th century. We are now simply ‘Tracerco’, a significant player in the newly formed Johnson Matthey Catalysts.

The first of Tracerco’s Queen’s Awards came in 2003 in the Innovation Category for its multi-award winning instrument; The TRACERCO ProfilerTM, Its ability to develop and implement measurement solutions, bringing them successfully to market rapidly has underpinned Tracerco’s success.

Tracerco has received the Queen’s Award for Enterprise 2005: International Trade for outstanding export and growth in sales over the past three years. Tracerco exports its range of products and services into all of the key oil, gas and petrochemical markets globally. In the past three years, it has exported to international markets such as Brazil, Nigeria, China, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, the Middle East and throughout South East Asia.

In 2006 Johnson Matthey Plc acquired the Process Diagnostics Division of Quest TruTec. Staff and assets of the business were merged with the Tracerco business. The combined company brings together the expertise in scanning and tomography with Tracerco’s advanced radioisotope and chemical tracer technology will enhance the range of products and services available to Tracerco’s customers.

In July 2006, Tracerco announced that it had entered into a Joint Venture agreement with Dialog Systems Sdn Bhd to operate in the ASEAN region, India, South Korea. Tracerco and Dialog Systems will combine their operations in the region to create Tracerco Asia Sdn Bhd and the new company will trade under that name. The agreement formalises the long history of technical and marketing collaboration between Tracerco and Dialog. The business will be headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with offices in Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia. Tracerco Asia will focus on the growing oil and gas, petrochemical and chemical market in South East Asia where there is a large customer base working in upstream oil and gas production and the downstream refining and petrochemical areas.

In 2007 Tracerco celebrated the opening of its latest office in Azerbaijan. The Baku office will allow Tracerco to provide local support to meet its customer needs in Azerbaijan and focus on the growing oil and gas market in the remainder of the Caspian region where there is a large customer base working in the areas of upstream oil and gas production. Tracerco’s expansion plans in the region will include the hiring and training of local Azerbaijani engineers, and support staff.

The reason for our continued success is an uncompromising commitment to delight our customers and a belief that profit is not an objective but a result – the result of doing things properly.