1962 - Established in Birmingham as D.B Oswald & Co, with the primary function of providing a brake re-line service to local heavy industry, the friction materials were purchased from U.K manufacturers.
1968 - Re-located to purpose built premises in the “Black Country” at the centre of heavy industry in the U.K.
1974 - Acquired the manufacturing technology and equipment from Small & Parkes, one of the UK leading friction material producers.
1974 - Additional manufacturing facility established in Rochdale within a traditional weaving mill, producing woven brake linings and woven belting.
1974 - Launched a range of 100% cotton non-asbestos woven brake linings – CB, CN & CZ.
1985 - The Black Country premises were expanded and the brake lining manufacturing operation was moved on site from Rochdale.
1988 - First launch of a newly developed woven brake lining to replace asbestos based products – GBC.
1988 - Exports of our manufactured non-asbestos brake linings start to grow.
1991 - First ISO quality approval gained.
1992 - Company name changed from D.B Oswald & Co to Trimat Industrial Friction, to better reflect the company transition from a service provider to a manufacturer with a recognised brand name – Trimat.
1992 - Secured our first significant OEM clients and the transition from being a service replacement supplier to an OEM supplier began.
1993 - Production moved to a considerably larger, purpose built production facility within the Black Country to maintain workforce continuity, this move broke the link with the processing of any asbestos based products.
1994 - Development started on a range of moulded and roll-formed/extruded friction materials.
1995 - Received The Queens Award for Exports.
1998 - Regular client base established for press moulded products Trimat MN1046 and MN1042.
2000 - U.S warehouse operation established in California.
2002 - Creation of a dedicated R&D Department, expanding the Trimat range to include MN1050, MR8728, MR7032, MR2215.
2005 - Approval received for specialist products developed for military and aerospace applications, Trimat TNC, TBC and MN1081.
2006 - Range of disc brake pad formulations developed and type approval received for use on wind turbine applications, Trimat MN1056, MN7032, MN1130, MN1081.
2007 - Range of materials globally approved and supplied for the elevator/escalator industry, Trimat CNB, MR8728, MR2740, MR2215, MR2058.
2010 - First OEM orders received for off-highway vehicles, MN1070, MN1081, MN1050.
2017 - First approval for friction material for use in an ATEX rated application.
2019 - Press and roll-form capacity increased significantly at the Black Country plant.
2020 - In-house quality laboratory significantly expanded.