The main application for gaseous oxygen at that time was in connection with the generation of limelight, used in magic lanterns and theatre lighting.

Around the same time, new cryogenic air separation processes had been devised independently in Britain, the United States and Germany.

In the 1950s, due to the increased demand for automobiles, improved methods of manufacturing steel were invented which required "tonnage" oxygen.

It established subsidiaries and joint ventures in Jamaica, the Netherlands, South Africa, Sweden and Spain for a number of products; which included transformers, magnetising equipment, frozen foods, stable isotopes, radioactively labelled compounds and cryogenic systems.

An important part of BOC's history was the acquisition of Airco Industrial Gases, an American competitor.

[6][7] On 12 May 2000, the bid lapsed, following failure to reach a satisfactory agreement with the United States Federal Trade Commission.

In November 2003, BOC announced that it would complete the sale of Afrox Healthcare—a hospital and managed health care group operating in South Africa—to a consortium led by Black Economic Empowerment investors.

[9] The BOC's total revenues in 2005, including its share of joint ventures and associate companies, were £4.6 billion and was then the second largest industrial gas supplier in the world.

In March 2006, the second proposal based on a £16 per share all-cash offer, valuing the company at £8.2bn (US$14.4bn; €12bn), was accepted and takeover was completed on 5 September 2006.

[10][11] After nearly a century of intermittent courtship, BOC became a part of Linde Group and the synergy overtook Air Liquide as the global market leader.

This office was used by Kamkorp Group and then stood empty before being sold to Gordon Murray Automotive in February 2020.