Company History 

Eveready began operating in Harrower Road, Port Elizabeth, South Africa in June 1937.  At that stage it was a subsidiary of the National Carbon Company – a division of United States based Union Carbide.

The Ever Ready Company Limited in Great Britain acquired the majority of the company’s shares in 1945, and by 1949 it had become a fully fledged South African concern when it was floated as a public company.

In 1971 building began on the existing factory, and the following year the great move to the new premises took place. It took five weeks for employees and contractual workers to uplift all the equipment in Harrower Road, and transport, install and reconstruct it in the factory in Eveready Road, North End.

From 1972 onwards the plant grew at an astonishing rate, with addition of new equipment.

By 1978 Eveready SA (Pty) Ltd was listed on the JSE, and Eveready UK bought out its remaining shares, thereby making it the company’s sole owner.

Eveready UK was purchased by Hanson PLC in 1982.  It was during this time that the South African plant underwent huge growth in turnover.  Hanson’s consolidated policy focused on the company’s core business of manufacturing batteries.

Although its volumes began to soar, there was very little investment in the plant or its employees, and most of the money it made was redirected back to the UK.

On 1 April 1996 Eveready (Pty) Ltd was sold to Duracell, by Hanson PLC and at the end of 1996 Duracell Inc. was acquired by Gillette.

Such international developments resulted in huge investments being injected into the South African plant, raising it to world – class levels from both the infrastructure and technology perspectives.

In mid 2002 Gillette took a strategic decision to exit all other battery brands across the world other than Duracell including Eveready in South Africa.  

On February 2003 a consortium of Nedbank, Buffet Collins, a Durban based Investment Company, and Fenchurch, a Port Elizabeth based Management and Investment Company, took charge of Eveready (Pty) Ltd.

The change has injected a new life and vision to the organisation and in the last one and a half years Eveready (Pty) Ltd has taken some major strides in enhancing product technology and range, increase geographical reach and distribution, introduce innovative and powerful brand recognition and image building programmes and drive growth for the business.