Salter - Electronic Kitchen Scale

Salter:

Salter Housewares began life in the late 1760 in the village of Bilston, England. At this time Richard Salter, a spring maker, began making 'pocket steelyards', a scale similar to the fisherman's scale of today. By 1825 his nephew George had taken over the company, which became known as George Salter & Co. and later established a large, well equipped manufacturing site in the town of West Bromwich. From here the company produced a wide variety of scales including the UK'S first bathroom scale! Other items were added to the range, including irons, mincers, potato chippers, coin-operated machines and another 'first' for the UK, the typewriter.

The business thrived throughout the 1900s and by 1950, employed over 2000 people, still in the same area and owned by the same family. Then, in 1972 the company was purchased by Staveley Industries Plc and was split into separate subsidiaries, housewares, industrial etc. relocating as required.

In the late 1980s, and early 90s Staveley acquired more businesses world-wide to form a new 'weighing group' including the Weigh-Tronix company of America, and in 1998 after a management buy out, this became the Weigh-Tronix Corporation, with Salter Housewares a part of that. The focus of the new corporation however was increasingly towards industrial or commercial weighing, so on February, 2002, the management team at Salter Housewares Ltd, backed by Barclays Private Equity, bought the company out from the group, to concentrate on its consumer businesses.

So rapid was the growth over the next two years that the company became an attractive acquisition target, and consequently in March 2004 was sold to the US-based HoMedics company, leaders in the "personal wellness" product category. In 2006, Salter Housewares USA and Taylor Precision Products Inc (also owned by HoMedics) merged together to combine sales, marketing, and distribution efficiencies to be more reactive to the changing retailer environment.

Located in the UK, USA, & Canada, with distribution to over 100 countries world-wide, still enjoying the #1 brand for bathroom scales in the UK and now part of the highly successful HoMedics group the company is now set for continued growth and product extension.