How we became a industry leading adhesive company
The company was originally formed in 1986 by two former employees of Alfred Adams & Co – a long established adhesive company based in West Bromwich. The original plan had been to sell edible & technical gelatine, but it soon became clear that success would come from a different direction.
Early in 1987 Ace launched a number of jelly glues in to the UK market. These proved to be immensely popular, particularly for bookbinding, and within two years Ace had become the largest adhesive supplier in the UK. PVAs & VAEs glues were then introduced to the range, to compliment the jelly glue adhesive products. Sales of these commercial glues grew steadily and are now the largest part of the UK business.
The oldest company in the Gluecom group, Labord was established in 1924. In the early 2000s Labord suffered from a lack of funding and was rescued by Gluecom in 2017. Since then massive investment in new production and packaging lines has transformed the business. Gluecom’s international outlook has opened up new markets and Demcomelt is now being sold in almost every European country.
- 1986 - Ace established in Empire Close Aldridge
- 2001 - Ace moves a few miles down the road to Shenstone Drive
- 2004 - Ace is acquired by Demcopack Davis NV
- 2010 - Xavier Desimpel purchases Demcopack Davis & starts the transformation of the business
- 2012 - Ace acquires Aztec Adhesives Limited
- 2017 - Demcopack Polska is established
- 2017 - Demcopack acquires Labord srl
- 2018 - Massive investment in new hotmelt equipment at Labord
- 2019 - Gluecom is formed
- 2019 - Ace opens new purpose build end-products warehouse
- 2020 - Further investment in new packaging equipment at Labord
- 2020 - Ace acquires Britannia Adhesives Limited
Our Adhesive Products
PVA & VAE glue dispersions are our largest product group by volume. These adhesives are sold for packaging, bookbinding and furniture woodworking applications. We manufacture PVAs & VAEs for the UK market at two of our UK sites. Products for EU markets are manufactured in Belgium & France.
We are one of only a handful of companies that still manufactures jelly glue and starch based adhesives. Over the years these products have been replaced with synthetic products – but are making a strong come back because of their excellent sustainability and environmental credentials.