National Benzole

National Benzole was founded in February 1919 in a room next to the boiler house of the Gas Light and Coke Company in London's Horseferry Road. In the early years of the century, benzole production had been small scale. However, because it was as good at propelling shells as motor cars, production was expanded massively during World War I. This generally led to a post-war "benzole-lake".

A group of men, including Samuel Henshaw, then the chairman of the Staffordshire Chemical Company, reckoned there was money to be made from these surplus-to-requirements stocks. Henshaw became the first chairman of the National Benzole Company. Although the idea of using benzole to power automobiles was not new, cars fueled on neat benzole needed altered carburetor settings which was inconvenient for owners who had previously used petrol and the effectiveness of neat benzole as a paint stripper raised concern about the possible effect on carburettor floats made of varnished cork – a common feature in US vehicles which at the time were being imported in greater numbers. There was also concern about the variable quality and specification of the benzole. It was in the need to address these concerns, especially regarding consistency of fuel quality, that Henshaw and his colleagues recognized their commercial opportunity.

A distribution network was established consisting of a few (initially) storage depots round the country, supplied by a small fleet of used lorries with solid tyres, acquired from the War Disposals Board. These transported the fuel in war-surplus drums and cans of 2, 4 or 50 gallons.