 The history of Lamsonair is a long one. The roots of our success lie in the discovery of ‘The Ball System’ by William Stickney Lamson in his store in Lowell, Massachusetts, and Lamsonair has never looked back. After the establishment of the Lamson Store Service Company Ltd. in Great Britain along with an agency in Australia, Lamson Nederland was established in 1952. In 1998 the subsidiary company Lamsonair B.V. became a reality.
You can discover the extensive history of Lamsonair B.V. below.
William Stickney Lamson
William Stickney Lamson was born in 1845 in Massachusetts, USA. Before he reached twenty he found himself as a soldier in the American Civil War, fighting with the Union Army. After the war Lamson began civilian life as a salesman. He opened a shop in Lowell, Massachusetts in 1879.
 'The Ball System'
The actual history of Lamsonair itself begins in this shop. The shop’s check-out point was centrally located, meaning that the shop-assistants would walk through the shop to the cash-register with the customer’s money, and then return to the customer with his or her change - a time-consuming exercise. Whilst searching for a suitable alternative, Lamson cheerfully attempted all sorts of experiments. The first test, which involved wrapping notes and coins into a handkerchief and throwing it across the shop to the cashier, unfortunately failed. After a number of other passionate attempts, Lamson discovered the perfect solution - a hollow ball that rolled along two tracks from point A to B. One track ran from the cashier to the shop assistant, whilst the other ran from the assistant to the cashier. And so ‘The Ball System’ became the first internal cash-transport system.
 1881: Lamson Consolidated Store Service Company launches in Europe
'The Ball System' quickly caught the attention of other shopkeepers, and they asked Lamson to create identical systems for their stores. Lamson investigated the potential of the system, applied for a patent, and set up the Lamson Consolidated Store Service Company in Boston in order to make and sell the systems. This later became the Lamson Corporation of Syracuse, New York, and Lamson spent the following years perfecting and marketing his invention. His promotional activities took him across the entire country, and he travelled to numerous place around the world. In 1881 he set up the Lamson Consolidated Store Service Company in Europe.
1884: Agency in London
J. M. Kelly heard about the Ball System in 1884. He was so impressed that he decided to acquire the London agency, which he did in 1885. He moved his family to London and rented a building in Bloomsbury Street. Kelly used the cellar of the building as a storeroom and the ground-level as a production area, while he and his family lived on the first floor.
1888: Lamson Store Service Company Ltd. in Great Britain
The agency flourished and Kelly decided to set up a company in Great Britain. So, on 16 August 1888, the Lamson Store Service Company Limited became a reality. The company had the rights to the Ball System for the ‘Eastern Hemisphere’, the United Kingdom, Europe, Africa, Australia, New Zealand and the Middle East. The board of directors consisted of Kelly, Lamson, McLean and Adamson. In 1889 they set up an agency in Australia.
1888 - 1952: rapid growth
The company grew rapidly and by 1889 they had already installed 3 725 stations. In order to be able to better fulfil the client’s wishes, the company moved to Caledonian Road in King’s Cross. Office space was also rented in the City of London.
1952: Lamson Nederland
In 1952 the Lamson Engineering Company Limited of London set up Lamson Nederland, and it became a public limited company in 1963 with the board of directors as a minor shareholder in the enterprise. In 1976 it was turned into a limited liability company. The shares were held until 1996 by the English parent company, which had in the meantime been renamed as DD Lamson PLC.
1998: establishing Lamsonair B.V.
A management buyout occurred in 1996 and Lamson Nederland underwent a restructuring in 1999. The company moved from Amersfoort to Zeist and unfolded its activities from the Lamsonair B.V. subsidiary, which had been established in 1998. The sale of internal cash-transport systems and the extending of service and maintenance thereto are now the core activities of the company.
2005: Lamsonair and Lamson Q
In the meantime Lamsonair B.V. has grown into a renowned company of 25 employees. Aside from cash-clearance systems, the company also develops and sells automatic bottle-depository machines. Lamson Q, the other subsidiary of Lamson Nederland, is occupied with the development and sale of client-referral systems and security solutions for laptop computers.
|
