B&D Australia
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Garage door |
| Founded | 1946 |
| Founder | Arthur Byrne and Paul Davidson |
| Headquarters | , Australia |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Shutters and Doors |
| Website | www |
B&D Australia Pty Ltd. is an Australian company founded in 1946 that manufactures metal doors, sash, trim products, and shutters for residential and industrial garage doors and shutters.
Historical background[edit]
B&D was founded in 1946 as a steel fabricating business by Arthur Byrne and Paul Davidson with and £140 in Botany, Sydney. In 1956 inventor Ben Saul designed and invented the original Roll-A-Door and then sold the idea to Byrne.[1] Byrne and Davidson worked with boilermaker Gordon Lambert to debut the Roll-A-Door at Daily Mirror Sydney Home Show in 1956. The door was made of compressed metal sheets fastened together and was the first all-steel door that could be rolled and unrolled without cracking. B&D introduced the slogan, "Even a child can open it" for a safe, secure garage door that would not slam shut and was easy to open.[2][3]
In 1957 B&D founder Paul Davidson left the company and Ray Willoughby was appointed.[4]
In the 1960s B&D went national, opening a factory in Melbourne and exporting the Roll-A-Door to New Zealand, and by 1963 the company was in the United States and Europe.[3]
In 1985 Arthur Byrne and Ray Willoughby sold B&D to Clyde Industries and the company was renamed B&D Doors.[5]
In 2000 B&D Doors sold the five millionth garage door worldwide, a figure that included more than 2.5 million Roll-A-Doors in Australia alone.[6]
In 2001 B&D was acquired by Queensland-based CSI Doors and Catalyst Investment Managers Proprietary Limited and, in 2003, acquired Automatic Technology Australia (ATA) to become Australia ’s largest door opener manufacturer. In 2004 it was bought by Australian company Alesco.[7] In 2005 bought out its largest competitor in the New Zealand market, Dominator New Zealand, to become the largest door and opener manufacturer across Australasia.[8] B&D was acquired by Dulux in 2012.[9]
Public Recognition
- Recognised by the National Museum of Australia as an Australian icon.[4]
- Australia Post stamps for ‘Inventive Australia’[10]
- New advert – A lion is the only alternative.[11]
- 1969 - Moon landing advert.[2]
Philanthropy[edit]
The Cure Cancer Foundation of Australia (Cure Cancer Australia) was founded by B&D founder Arthur Byrne in 1979.[2]
References[edit]
- ^ "Arthur Byrne :: Biography at :: At Design and Art Australia Online".
- ^ a b c "Developer of a ubiquitous symbol of Australian suburbia". Sydney Morning Herald. 2009-10-11. Retrieved 2021-03-15.
- ^ a b De Lacey, Lynda (2007). Australia's greatest inventions. Wollombi, NSW: Exisle Pub. ISBN 978-1-877568-29-9. OCLC 697634276.
- ^ a b "National Museum of Australia". National Museum of Australia | Collection Explorer. Archived from the original on 2014-08-04. Retrieved 2021-04-13.
- ^ "Clyde on a roll with garage door plans". Australian Financial Review. 1995-01-12. Archived from the original on 2021-04-15. Retrieved 2021-04-15.
- ^ "B&D Australia, B&D Garage Doors & Openers History". www.bnd.com.au. Retrieved 2021-03-15.
- ^ "B&D Doors still open to an Alesco bid". Australian Financial Review. 2004-04-11. Archived from the original on 2021-04-15. Retrieved 2021-03-15.
- ^ api_import (2018-04-18). "Commission grants clearance to B&D Doors to acquire Dominator International". comcom.govt.nz. Archived from the original on 2019-01-30. Retrieved 2021-04-15.
- ^ "Dulux makes $188m offer for Alesco". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2012-04-30. Archived from the original on 2021-04-15. Retrieved 2021-03-30.
- ^ "Stamp Master Album News". www.stampmasteralbum.com. Retrieved 2021-04-20.
- ^ Wilkinson, Zoe (2020-11-10). "B&D garage doors 'safer than a lion' states new Thinkerbell creative". Mumbrella. Retrieved 2021-03-15.