How it started
History
The company was founded in 1856 by Thomas James Smith of Kingston upon Hull who went into business as a dispensing chemist. One early product line that the firm specialised in was cod liver oil; by 1858, it had effectively shifted from retail to wholesale to supply cod liver oil (and other productions) to hospitals, dispensaries, and the wider medical profession.
A few months before his death in 1896, Smith was joined by his nephew, Horatio Nelson Smith, at which point the business became known as T. J. Smith and Nephew. Horatio reoriented the firm from cod liver oil in favour of other products; during 1904, it started producing and supplying bandages and surgical dressings. This new product line experienced high demand following the outbreak of the First World War during 1914, during which its dressings were routinely used to treat wounded soldiers.
It was amid this war that Horatio met with the French President, Raymond Poincaré, after which the company received its largest-ever order after it was awarded a contract valued at £350,000 to supply both surgical and field dressings, which it successfully fulfilled within five months. The firm would ultimately supply the armies of Britain, France, Belgium, Serbia and America, as well as the American Red Cross, during the conflict. The business expanded from 50 to 1,200 staff to fulfil the heavy demands of wartime, but encountered hardship due to a slump in demand that occurred shortly after the conflict's end in 1918.
During the early interwar period, Smith & Nephew was restructured into a professionally-managed multidivisional business. This organisational change came alongside an increased focus on textile-based products, which led to the business diversifying into women’s underwear, first aid kits, and sanitary towels; it also started acquiring licenses to market and produce products such as Gypsona, a plaster-of-paris-based bandage, and the Elastoplast range of bandages. Such product lines provided the basis of the company’s commercial growth throughout the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s.
In 1937, it was listed on the London Stock Exchange. In the aftermath of the Second World War, the company opted to diversify into cosmetics, hypodermic syringes and needles, and pharmaceuticals. During 1951, Smith & Nephew acquired Herts Pharmaceuticals along with its antitubercular treatment and its research department. However, competitive pressure following the entry of large American pharmaceutical companies into the British market led to sales revenue declining throughout the early 1950s.
From Wikipedia’s article on Smith & Nephew, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3