Our history & heritage, leading the way ahead...

As Nicobond celebrate 60 years of innovation in tiling and flooring, we remember our foundations and how we developed into the company we are today. Founded in 1875, the Nicholls & Clarke Group have grown from strength to strength with over 140 years of experience and expertise in the manufacture and distribution of high quality building products. The journey saw huge developments into new areas of trade through diversifying and ongoing product development to meet the needs of different markets.

In the earliest days, it was the experimentation of raw materials for paint that formed an important part of the evolution of Nicobond Products. The sensational discovery of emulsion paint was made through experimenting with Polyvinyl Acetate Emulsion, a raw material that was new to the paint trade by Mr A.E.G. Brown at our former Nicholls &Clarke Bow factory. The success of Nicoloid Emulsion Paint was staggering and changed the face of interior decorating for both the public and trade.

In an attempt to diversify and make use of the new polymer emulsion, Dr Eric Leigh, a former Chemist at our Bow Factory experimented with various paste formulations. In a moment of inspiration, one of these was used to fix a tile to a wall. It very quickly became apparent that an exciting new product had been invented as attempts to remove the tile proved difficult. It had superb adhesion in excess of 300lbs p.s.i. compared to about 5lbs p.s.i for sand and cement. Samples were sent to tile manufacturers which resulted in exciting reports and feedback, that led to the development of the first ready mixed tile adhesive paste.

The success was unprecedented and was to be a breakthrough in tile fixing, not only in the UK but internationally. The product was to be called Nicobond Tile Cement, today known as Nicobond Tile Adhesive. Tile fixing prior to the introduction of Nicobond Tile Cement consisted of installations using either black solvent based adhesive or sand and cement mortar, which required highly skilled operators with only cement rendered surfaces used as a suitable base.

Nicobond Tile Cement was pure white, easy to use and easy to clean off with water. Furthermore, it became apparent that tiling could be carried out directly to plaster, cement, and painted surfaces and even onto old tiles. This has radically changed the tile industry, as manufacturers we were able to reduce the thickness of tiles to produce modern tiles that we still see today. Pre-soaking of tiles before fixing also became a thing of the past.

Nicobond became a success in a short space of time. Sales were being made throughout the UK, Europe and Worldwide. Nicobond were producing tile adhesive for other leading manufacturers still operating even today.

As time went on, it became evident that a separate organisation was needed to cope with the sales,marketing and specialist production of this new product. The new company, Nicobond (Products) was formed to look after the manufacturing, with distribution outlets opened in Cardiff in 1966, Stoke-on-Trent in 1968 and Glasgow in 1981 trading as Nicobond Western, Nicobond Midlands and Nicobond Scotland. Niclar exports was set up in 1972 to cater to the rapidly growing sales internationally. 

Over the many years from the early period until present day, Nicholls & Clarke stay true to a philosophy engrained in the heart of the company to drive forward and adapt to changing trends in the market in order to stay relevant. This is achieved by understanding customers requirements and solving common problems. 

In 2008, N&C introduced a revolutionary solution for fixing tiles and natural stone to timber floors, Nicobond Plastic Ply. The 2mm thick, self adhesive reinforcing sheet helped to prevent problems of damage to tiles and tile joints by avoiding the effects of timber shrinkage, warping and rotting. Plastic Ply eliminates the need to install thick sheets of marine grade plywood (min 15mm) or similar over-boarding products in order to achieve an attractive and sound tiled floor finish. Easy to use, install and store Nicobond Plastic Ply was a huge success from the outset. It has been stated that tilers that have transferred over to using Nicobond Plastic Ply have not reverted back to traditional methods. With year on year growth, the success of the product has been phenomenal, exceeding expectations. 

In 2011, after identifying that the use of anhydrite/calcium sulphate screeds was increasingly being used in modern day construction, Nicobond formulated Nicobond Gypfix, a new, innovative, rapid setting, white, gypsum based tile adhesive specially designed for fixing ceramic, porcelain and natural stone tiles directly onto Anhydrite/ Calcium Sulphate substrates. 

This high strength adhesive, unlike any other in the marketplace, achieves high levels of bond strength on a par with traditional C2 category cement based adhesives. Priming is not required as there is no risk of Ettringite with this product. Nicobond Gypfix is highly successful and presents the specifier with a viable and practical alternative to cement based adhesive systems. 

As well as providing quality solutions with the trade in mind, Nicobond produce innovative solutions to overcome consumer problems. 

In 2012, Nicobond introduced Starlike, a new genre of extreme performance grout that had been developed to allow long term UV resistance and a lifetime performance guarantee. This new innovation was created using patented technology to achieve high stain, mould and acid resistance. Under adverse conditions of high humidity and wetting, such as kitchens, bathrooms and even swimming pools grout lines remain as fresh as when first applied. Nicobond Starlike has been rigorously tried and tested against other leading brands and has demonstrated that absolute white grout line can be achieved whilst other brands discolour over time. 

2015 saw the introduction of the Nicobond ScreedPro range of smoothing compounds which offers the specifier and contractor a series of OPC (Ordinary Portland Cement) free products with unique super fast drying capabilities. Market leading flow characteristics, fibre technology and the use of raw materials that improve performance whilst having a lesser impact on our environment are just a few of the benefits offered. 

In 2018, we launched the first single part S2 fibre reinforced formulation with high flexibility which can be bonded to various surfaces including green screeds. 

Nicholls & Clarke’s philosophy remains intact as new and innovative solutions are defined to overcome problems in day to day and specialist tiling installations by utilising over 100 years of combined technical expertise.