History

Dorman Long Engineering Limited was founded in 1949 by a mechanical engineer named F. E. Turton Hart and Geo Cole. operating as Amalgamated Engineering Limited, one of the first structural engineering companies in Nigeria specialising in structural steel fabrication for bridges, factories and warehouses. In 1960 the company merged with British Steel’s Dorman Long and became Dorman Long & Amalgamated Engineering Limited with a much wider product range including water and fuel tanks, and commercial buildings. The company, then 100% owned by British Steel, played a major role in the general industrial development of Nigeria from the 60’s – 80’s including the spanning of the vast River Niger in the East a bridge which today remains the main link between east and west Nigeria. The name changed finally to Dorman Long Engineering Limited in 2002.

The promulgation of the indigenisation decree in 1977 by the Federal Government, saw the beginning of a significant reduction in foreign and an increase in Nigerian shareholding and today the company is 100% owned by Nigerian institutions and individuals.

By the 90’s the company have moved into the manufacture of equipment for the rapidly expanding oil and gas industries starting with pressure vessels and to do so had developed the facilities and key state of the art skills required for a wide range of high precision heavy engineering products and services.

The expansion of facilities and skills continues, most recently with the installation of Nigeria’s only large scale engineering quality hot dip galvanising plant. Today Dorman Long is the leading Nigerian engineering company, manufacturing products and providing services to the oil, gas and other industries previously only available from overseas.

Major development and expansion over recent years has and continues to be facilitated by substantial ongoing further shareholder investment. A further quantum step is anticipated in the very near future by the company being listed on the stock exchange.