Avon Protection plc is a British company that specialises in the engineering and manufacturing of respiratory protection equipment for military, law enforcement and fire personnel. Its corporate headquarters are 3 km south of Melksham in Wiltshire, England, at the Hampton Park West development.
The business was established when a former cloth mill, known as Avon Mill, on the banks of the River Avon at Limpley Stoke in Wiltshire, was acquired by Messrs E G Browne and J C Margetson in 1885. The previous owners of the site had been timber merchants but had diversified into rubber goods. By 1890, the business had transferred to premises in Melksham and was named The Avon India Rubber Company Limited. Products at this time included solid tyres, conveyor belts and components for railways. By 1900, pneumatic tyres for bicycles were being produced, and by 1906 the first car tyres were advertised under the Avon brand. The company acquired the Sirdar Rubber Works at Greenland Mill in Bradford on Avon in 1915.