Originally founded as William Cory & Son in 1896, the company has operated vessels on the River Thames for more than 125 years, transporting a range of commodities and materials including coal, oil, aggregates and waste.

[1] The company operates: In 2020, Cory received planning permission to build another EfW facility adjacent to the existing one in Belvedere.

[18] Rather than operate its lighters unladen on their return journeys from delivering coal, Cory used them to carry refuse from London to be dumped in the marshlands of Essex and Kent.

Rea, which both expanded its tug, barge and coastal collier fleets but also gave Cory a presence in the ports of Bristol and Southampton.

After the war, Cory began mining the stone needed for aggregates to rebuild parts of London and putting them on empty barges.

During the post-war period, Cory also began transporting fuel oil as well as coal following the introduction of the Clean Air Act in 1956.

[50] Oil-fired central heating grew in popularity such that by 1972 Cory was supplying 216 million imperial gallons (980 megalitres) per year to domestic customers.

They gradually got involved with the emerging container traffic and worked for OCL who were taking over refrigerated imports from New Zealand and Australia.

[65][27] It won a tender to transport and dispose of half a million tonnes of waste a year for the Greater London Council.

[27] It signed a long-term contract with London's Western Riverside Waste Authority in 2002, which included the development of an 84,000 tonnes-per-annum materials recycling facility in Wandsworth.

[66] In March 2007 Montagu sold Cory to a consortium of investors consisting of ABN Amro Global Infrastructure Fund, Finpro SGPS and Santander Private Equity.

[66] In 2010, Mucking stopped receiving London's waste and was later reclaimed for community and environmental use to create the Thurrock Thameside Nature Discovery Park.