Elementis plc is one of the UK's largest speciality chemicals and personal care businesses, with extensive operations in the United States, Europe and Asia.

It became one of the leading British firms in the south-east Asia plantations industry before it gradually divested its interests in the post-colonial era.

His brother Smith Harrison was 23 years younger while Joseph Crosfield had previously been an employee of Daniel.

The first change was that rather than just merchanting, the firm began blending its own tea under the brand “Nectar” and a large export business was developed from Ceylon Wharf on the South Bank.

[3] Harrison & Crosfield was one of a number of British firms that controlled plantations across south-east Asia through the agency system.

The development of a plantation required committing substantial capital for a period of years before the first crops matured.

Typically, the agency would provide all the administration, technical, financial and commercial expertise but the capital would be raised externally.

Arthur Lampard died in 1916 and Heath Clark retired in 1924 but new people were ready to cope with the challenges and opportunities.

In 1921 it acted as agents for as many as 52 plantation companies in Malaya, Sumatra, Ceylon, southern India, Java and Borneo; a period of consolidation followed.

[3] Despite the difficult trading conditions, opportunities were pursued, taking the Group into timber, palm oil and chemicals.

One of the strategic purchases took place at the end of the War when Harrisons bought Darby & Co, a trading business in North Borneo with a blue-chip list of international agencies.

The low temperature vulcanization process allowed the fresh liquid rubber to be compounded on the spot and it was marketed under the name of Linatex.

A factory was built in Selangor, partly owned by Harrisons, which also acted as Secretary and sole European agent.

From the late 1920s the provision of industrial supplies to the plantations widened the agency business and in particular took Harrisons into chemicals in North America.

However, the greatest challenges came from the post-war decolonization and the gradual desire of the newly independent countries to control their own raw materials.

Despite this, and the earlier determination not to be too reliant on one region, Harrisons continued to find opportunities for growth in south east Asia.

By the time that logging ended in 1982, Sabah had established a thriving timber business in the U.K. Another growth market developed after the war was oil palms, often planted on old rubber estates but Harrisons also acquired virgin land in Sabah and formed a new venture in Papua New Guinea, New Britain Palm Oil.

[3] Despite the disruption caused by the Malayan Emergency, Harrisons' agency companies continued to acquire additional estates.

[14] The post-war diversification started with chemicals and went on to include timber and builders’ merchants; and malting and animal foodstuffs to make a three-pronged industrial company.

The stated strategy was to concentrate on the three main areas – chemicals, timber and building supplies and food & agriculture alongside the retained plantations.

Durham Chemicals also had a substantial market position in polymer additives and the original Linatex remained an important specialty.

Although the intention then was for investment to concentrate on chemicals and timber & building supplies while retaining malting, the non-chemicals businesses did not remain for long.

[28][25] Increased specialization led to the disposal of the specialty rubber, international pigments and the surfactants businesses.

[29] This was a prelude to a more substantial acquisition when in 2017 Elementis nearly trebled its personal care business with the purchase of SummitReheis for $362m; based in the US and Germany it specialized in anti-perspirant additives.

[30] This was followed in 2018 by the creation of a new division by the $600m acquisition of Mondo Minerals,[31] described as the “second largest producer of premium talc based additives in the world”.

Following this acquisition, the group's main divisions were then described as personal care; coatings; talc; chromium; and energy.