Cape plc

Cape plc is a United Kingdom energy services company based in West Drayton, Middlesex.

History

The company was founded in 1893 as the Cape Asbestos Company with the objective of mining asbestos in the Orange Free State and importing it into European countries where it could be woven into fire-resistant materials. By 1913 it had four factories in the London area including a facility in Barking and in 1939 it opened a manufacturing facility at Acre Mill near Hebden Bridge to meet the demand for gas mask filters made from blue asbestos during the Second World War. In 1976 it established a scaffolding division and in the late 1970s it developed asbestos-free products such that by 1980 it had become the world's foremost supplier of asbestos free protection and insulation board. Although it had a full listing during the 1980s it was at that time 67.3% owned by Charter Consolidated plc.

It transferred from a full listing to the Alternative Investment Market in 2002 in a bid to cut costs and it reached a settlement in 2003 to pay some £7.5 million to some 7,500 claimants from South Africa who had been seeking compensation over many years for asbestos related health problems. In 2006 it established a £40 million fund for claimants based in the UK.

Cape

A cape is a sleeveless outer garment, which drapes the wearer's back, arms and chest, and fastens at the neck.

History

Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon, and have had periodic returns to fashion, for example, in nineteenth-century Europe. Roman Catholic clergy wear a type of cape known as a ferraiolo, which is worn for formal events outside of a liturgical context. The cope is a liturgical vestment in the form of a cape. Capes are often highly decorated with elaborate embroidery. Capes remain in regular use as rain wear in various military units and police forces, for example in France. A gas cape was a voluminous military garment designed to give rain protection to someone wearing the bulky gas masks used in twentieth century wars.

Semantic distinction

In fashion, the word “cape” usually refers to a shorter garment and “cloak” to a full-length version of the different types of garment, though the two terms are sometimes used synonymously for full-length coverings. The fashion cape does not cover the front to any appreciable degree. In raingear, a cape is usually a long and roomy protective garment worn to keep one dry in the rain.

PLC

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