Yet this Liverpool born-and-bred, family-run company has been greasing the wheels of industry - and shaping all our lives - for centuries.
"On our 250th Anniversary, one of my ambitions was to say ‘Clare’s is an extraordinary outfit’. Not only are we now 275, but we have changed fundamentally many times. That's why we survive and we should tell people about it. And so we do.” The company is investing heavily in R&D, bringing new innovative ecologically sensitive products to market, built a new technical centre in Liverpool in 2020 and is currently embarking on the largest capital project in the company’s history, extending the grease plant and increasing capacity by more than 50% on its Liverpool site.
From small beginnings provisioning ships, Clare's began to distil raw turpentine imported from the Carolinas in North America. 50 years later, tar distillation began along with rosin manufacture. Apart from trading tallow as a lubricant, the company focused on tar derivatives – phenols for disinfectant, creosote for wood preservation, naphthalene and road tar.
Did you know? RS Clare has clocked up numerous awards but its first, The Ballymenagh Trophy for The most successful laying composition, TARCO, in 1907 is now on loan to The Museum of Liverpool. Did you know? RS Clare were the first to develop a specially formulated lubricant that extends the life of curved rail tracks!