W. L. Gore & Associates Inc opened its first European presence in London in 1964, selling electronics products. Over the years, all business divisions have grown significantly, selling the entire product portfolio. Gore UK has two manufacturing sites in Livingston and Dundee.W. L. Gore & Associates Inc., was founded in 1958, in Newark, Delaware, by Bill and Vieve Gore.The enterprise is privately owned and employs worldwide approx. 9,500 people – called Associates.Gore prefers this private ownership and believes this reinforces a key element of its culture to “take a long-term view” when assessing business situations.By using proprietary technologies with the versatile polymer polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), Gore has created numerous products for medical implants; fabric laminates; and cable, filtration, sealant, membrane, venting and fibre technologies for diverse industries.Gore has been granted more than 2,000 patents worldwide in a wide range of fields, including electronics, medical devices and polymer processing.More than 40 million innovative Gore medical devices have been implanted, saving and improving the quality of lives worldwide.Gore has offices in more than 25 countries, with manufacturing operations in the U.S., Germany, the UK, China and Japan.