Survival Equipment Pioneer Celebrates 40th Anniversary

Andrew Howell, the Managing Director of protective and survival equipment specialists, BCB International Ltd, celebrated with his family and BCB personnel his 40 years at the helm of the business.

Its equipment currently supports the British military as well as a number of foreign ministries of defense. It has been used in the Falklands, Mali and Afghanistan, among other places. The company, which stemmed from one man’s cough syrup has grown to now have over 70 employees across three sites in Wales.

BCB was originally founded in 1854 during the Crimean war, when Dr. Brown supplied the troops with Brown’s Cough Bottle (BCB). The company was then taken over by a local chemist, Deryck Howell, in 1949. 40 years ago, his son, the current director of the company, decided to embark on international waters and set up BCB International Ltd.

“I set it up to design a new life raft first aid kit for Avon Inflatables in Llanelli. I thought it would take me two weeks; then I was going to go exploring the world,” tells Howell. “I am still to an extent redesigning the kit – and seeing the world,” he continues. The energetic Managing Director shows no sign of slowing down. Meeting with international clients, Howell  regularly travel all around the world – in the past month alone, Howell and some of his team have traveled to the Netherlands, Germany, Brunei, French Guiana and Iraq in addition to meeting with prominent political and business figures in the UK.

Howell’s belief in continuous innovation has led to the development of products such as an eco-friendly biofuel FireDragon, a first of its kind worldwide, a self- inflating body armor system or a non-lethal boat stopping system to aid in peace and security-keeping in marine environments.   

Having recently moved to larger headquarters, under Howell’s leadership, the company is extremely well positioned to serve its clients.