Q&A - Eurobond Adhesives Ltd

When was Eurobond Adhesives established, by whom, and what was the reason for the launching of the business?

Eurobond Adhesives Limited was established almost four decades ago in 1984. Its current owner, Simon Dearing having bought the business in 2007, has continued to grow the company through the addition of innovative and high performance adhesive products.

What was the first product added to the Eurobond portfolio and what is the most recent?

Our core Penloc® range of 2-part structural adhesives was the first range of products to be launched throughout Europe. Our most recent product is a unique sprayable, strong and flexible MS Polymer adhesive. It can be used as an adhesive or as a protective coating and is designed for use in automotive, construction, modular building and sheet metalwork applications.

The adhesives market seems well served: how did Eurobond manage to gain a foothold in the first place, and to become what it is today?

It was clear back in the 1980’s that the adhesives market was dominated by epoxy technology. These were typically substrate specific adhesives and were not particularly user friendly. Eurobond  looked to change the status quo and with the help of key partners developed a range of methylmethacrylate (toughened acrylic) structural adhesives. This new chemistry was seen as a universal adhesive as it could bond many different materials very quickly and in any combination. Penloc® was also rubber filled which give the material flexibility and a degree of impact and shock resistance. This chemistry was a game changer, and in many industries has helped to speed up production processes, improve product design and reduce the reliance on mechanical fixings to join two materials together.

It was this breakthough chemistry that opened many new customer doors and helped Penloc® gain momentum.  The adhesive had to be demonstrated to customers directly on the shop floor.  It was this immediate proof that drove interest. Many adhesive companies had established themselves as ‘box shifters’, keen to sell as many units as possible. However Eurobond’s approach was different. The company talked to its customers to find out how their end product was going to be used, the environment in which it would be operating and the forces or loads it was expected to cope with. This ‘Blue Printing’ ensured that only the best and most appropriate adhesive was offered to the customer. This, together with product and adhesive testing to prove the concept ensured the adhesive met and exceeded the expectations of the customer.

Does Eurobond provide any testing or validation facilities to confirm bond suitability, strength or durability?

Yes. Eurobond has a laboratory where we can test temperature and humidity resistance, pull strength and UV resistance. In addition, we have forged long term partnerships with independent laboratories that can offer much greater in-depth materials analysis where required too.

What do you say to an engineer who asks why they should deal with you rather than a multinational?

Eurobond is a small business that can adapt to change quickly and effectively. The chain of command is short, meaning we are flexible, make decisions quickly and offer our customers a very personal service.

Do you see the use of adhesives as a complement to mechanical fastening or a replacement for it?

Yes to both! Adhesives and adhesive tapes offer many solutions and benefits to joining two components together. But there will always be applications where the best method of construction is a mechanical fixing. The two methods complement each other very well.

So what is the outlook for Eurobond Adhesives?

The outlook for Eurobond is very bright. The business emerged from the constraints of the pandemic lockdown with a bang and the business continues to grow at a pace as manufacturing returns to work and restarts production. In summary, Eurobond Adhesives managing director Simon Dearing explains, ‘’I think the enforced lockdown gave many companies the opportunity and time to look again at their products. It gave them the opportunity to improve their designs and look at improving their production processes. And it gave them time to work out how they could manufacture their products more efficiently using different processes and different fixing methods’’. In December, Eurobond will launch its new website with new content including a series of instructional videos explaining the benefits of using different types of adhesive chemistry. We will continue to champion adhesive innovation and will bring the very best high performance adhesives to market”.